Royal Dutch Shell sold its stake in Iraq’s West Qurna-1 oil field to Japan’s Itochu Corporation.
The amount of the deal was not revealed but it is known that the move comes as the latest step in a gradual retreat of the Anglo-Dutch company from the Middle East.
The company is also expected to quit Iraq’s Majnoon oil field in 2018. At the same time, it is seen to retain its natural-gas interests in the country.
Shell produced 450,000 barrels of oil per day in the region in 2003. Over the past 15 years, it produced thousands of barrels of oil per day across six countries in the region.
As soon as Shell officially leaves Iraq at the end of this year, it will have oil assets in Oman that make about 220,000 barrels per day.
