International oil companies operating in southern Iraq have reduced their foreign staff in response to growing concerns over regional instability, Iraq's state-owned Basrah Oil Company said today.
The staff reductions reflect heightened fears that the conflict between Israel and Iran could spill over into the wider region. Tensions escalated after US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites early on 22 June local time, following nearly two weeks of missile and drone exchanges between Israel and Iran.
Basrah Oil said several companies operating under licensing agreements in its fields have temporarily evacuated foreign staff. "Most notably, the British company BP, which operates the Rumaila field, has withdrawn some personnel," the company said in a statement.
Crude output at Rumaila, Iraq's largest oil field with capacity of around 1.45mn b/d, has recovered to about 1.2mn b/d, Argus understands, after a 24 January fire disrupted around 300,000 b/d of production.
Basrah Oil said the staff reductions have not affected output. "Iraqi personnel continue to carry out operations and monitoring, in full co-ordination with remote operators," it said.
Italian firm Eni has also scaled back its presence at the 480,000 b/d Zubair field. "Eni has gradually reduced its staff from 260 employees to 98, who are currently working normally in the field alongside Iraqi teams to manage petroleum operations," Basrah Oil said.
Sources at Eni told Argus that the company made the cut as a precaution and is monitoring the situation in co-ordination with Italian and local authorities.
TotalEnergies, which is redeveloping the Ratawi field to raise capacity by 85,000 b/d to 210,000 b/d, has also reduced staffing. Basrah Oil said 60pc of TotalEnergies' personnel have been withdrawn, but operations have not been affected.
Chinese firms operating the West Qurna 1, Siba, and Faihaa fields have not evacuated staff, and operations are continuing smoothly, according to Basrah Oil. Russian firm Lukoil, operator of the West Qurna 2 project, has also maintained normal staffing levels and reported no disruption.
