Shell closes sale of Iraqi field stake

Shell has closed the sale of its Shell Iraq subsidiary and its 19.6% interest in the West Qurna-1 oilfield to Japanese company Itochu for USD 406 million, the super-major announced on Wednesday.

Itochu will also assume USD 144 million of debt as part of the agreement, the company statement added.

The deal was officially announced last week but information about it leaked to the press earlier and TOGY reported about it in January.

“Iraq is an important country for the Shell Group, and exiting West Qurna-1 allows us to focus our resources on other assets in our Iraq portfolio,” said Andy Brown, the company’s director for upstream, in a separate March 23 statement. “Shell remains committed to working with its partners to redevelop Iraq’s energy infrastructure by capturing associated gas, through the Basrah Gas Company joint venture, for domestic and regional consumption.”

ExxonMobil will continue operating the oilfield with a 33% stake, along with remaining partners PetroChina (25%), Oil Exploration Company (12%) and Pertamina (10%).