Iraq partners with bp to develop Kirkuk oil and gas fields

Iraq has signed an MoU with Britain’s bp to negotiate the redevelopment of Kirkuk oil and gas fields. The deal covers oil and gas investment, power generation, solar power, and wider exploration activities.

The Iraqi prime minister’s office said in a statement that bp will develop four oil and gas fields in the Kirkuk region under the deal signed in Baghdad between Iraq’s oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani and bp CEO Murray Auchincloss.

The agreement includes the Baba and Avanah domes and three adjacent fields—Bai Hassan, Jambur, and Khabbaz—in Federal Iraq, which are operated by Iraq’s North Oil Company.

“This MoU builds on bp’s strategic and longstanding relationship with Iraq. We see today’s signing as an important step towards the potential further development of this critically important area,” said Auchincloss.

bp said in a statement that the rehabilitation of existing facilities, where required, and the construction of new facilities—including gas expansion projects—together with a drilling programme at the Kirkuk fields have the potential to stabilise production and reverse the decline.

The integrated redevelopment programme has the potential to bring opportunity and investment to the Kirkuk region, unlocking future downstream growth while also bringing tangible benefits to the local population, with job creation and local supply requirements.

The energy firm said negotiations over the preliminary agreement are expected to be complete early in 2025.

Under the deal, bp plans to explore opportunities for investment in power generation and the introduction of solar power facilities to the region.

bp and Iraq’s oil ministry signed a letter of intent in 2013 to study the development of the giant Kirkuk oilfield, but the deal was put on hold in 2014, according to a Reuters report. Kirkuk is estimated to contain about nine billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The Kirkuk field’s reservoir was discovered in 1927 and is where Iraq’s oil industry was founded.

Iraq, the second biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries behind Saudi Arabia, currently has the capacity to produce almost 5 million barrels per day.

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