Chevron Returns to Iraqi Kurdistan's Oil Fields
January 16 2018 - 8:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Benoit Faucon
Chevron Corp. is resuming drilling operations in Iraqi Kurdistan
and taking steps to send staff there again, the company said
Tuesday, a sign that tensions between Baghdad and the Kurdistan
Regional Government are easing.
Chevron temporarily halted drilling in Iraqi Kurdistan in
October after Iraqi forces moved into Kirkuk, routing Kurdish
forces who had effectively annexed the city and its oil fields,
which lie outside the semiautonomous region's formal boundary. The
move by the Iraqi government came after the Kurds held a referendum
on independence from Baghdad, including Kirkuk and other disputed
territories they seized during the war against Islamic State.
Hostilities have begun to ease, though there are still political
tensions.
An official delegation from Baghdad visited the Kurdish region
this week for the first time since the referendum and met with
officials there including the heads of its two international
airports. But Kurdistan's ruling party has said it will boycott May
elections in disputed areas retaken by Iraqi forces.
A Chevron spokeswoman said the company would restart drilling
operations on an Iraqi Kurdistan block "in the near future."
"We are taking all necessary steps to remobilize people and
equipment to ensure we are well prepared to resume operations" in
the region, she said.
Chevron has held the rights to drill several blocks in areas
controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government since 2012. The
company made agreements with the regional authorities over the
objections of Baghdad, which has sought to control Kurdish oil
drilling and shipping.
The Kurdistan Regional Government didn't respond to a request
for comment. An Iraqi oil ministry spokesman said he had no
information on the resumption of Chevron's operations.
Iraqi Kurdistan has been hailed as one of the oil industry's
last great frontiers, though there is dispute about the size of its
reserves. The region has carved out a significant amount of
autonomy since Saddam Hussein's ouster in the second Iraq war, with
its government striking deals with Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp. and
Russia's state oil firm, OAO Rosneft, over the objections of
Baghdad.
The loss of Kirkuk has been difficult for the Kurdistan Regional
Government. Kirkuk's oil accounted for almost half the crude output
from Kurdish-controlled areas. Kirkuk had been held by the Kurds
since 2014, when Islamic State's advances caused Iraqi forces to
flee.
Isabel Coles in Baghdad contributed to this article.
Write to Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 16, 2018 08:34 ET (13:34 GMT)
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