<article><p class="lead">Iraq's oil ministry today raised the possibility of ExxonMobil exiting its major investment in federal territory, saying that it is talking with other unspecified US firms to buy the firm's stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field.</p><p>Exxon,which signed a 20-year service contract for the field in 2010, has made no comment.</p><p>ExxonMobil operates the 500,000 b/d capacity West Qurna 1, in the southern Basrah province, with a 32.7pc stake, alongside Chinese state-controlled PetroChina, which holds 32.7pc, Japanese trading house Itochu with 19.6pc, Indonesia's Pertamina with 10pc, and Iraq's state-owned exploration company with 5pc.</p><p>ExxonMobil is pursuing a $15bn divestment target for 2019-21, but its asset sales amounted to just $1bn last year. Earlier this year, it <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2186021">agreed to sell</a> its 32pc interest in the Baeshiqa license in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to Norwegian independent DNO.</p><p>The sale of its West Qurna 1 stake would come as a blow to Iraq's oil sector, which has struggled to attract and retain large international oil firms in recent years as a result of commercially unattractive contractual terms and payment difficulties. Iraq may face further struggles as investors focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics force firms to assess the climate impact of their assets.</p><p>ExxonMobil had been in talks with Iraq's oil ministry to invest in the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) — key to maintaining and growing Iraq's southern crude production — alongside the multi-billion dollar South Integrated project. Disagreements over the terms prolonged negotiations for years, and the possibility of Exxon investing in the projects appears to have drawn to a close following <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2200443">last month's</a> preliminary agreement for Total to invest in the CSSP alongside three other southern projects.</p><p class="bylines">By Rowena Edwards</p></article>
