ExxonMobil, the world’s second largest oil company, is negotiating with Iraq to return to its oilfields just a year after it quit one of the Arab country’s largest producing fields, Iraqi officials have revealed.

In 2024, ExxonMobil exited the West Qurna 1 oilfield in southern Iraq and handed over its operations to PetroChina as the lead contractor.

PetroChina now holds the main stake in the field, one of the world’s largest oil reservoirs, containing more than 20 billion barrels of proven crude deposits and pumping nearly 550,000 barrels per day.

The move came nearly two years after the oil giant decided to quit its sole remaining license in North Iraq—the Pirman gas block in Kurdistan.

“ExxonMobil has conveyed its willingness to return to Iraq,” Oil Ministry undersecretary Bassim Khudair said in a statement carried by Iraq’s press on Thursday.

“The Company is currently in a stage of negotiations with Iraq for a new opportunity in the country’s oilfields…these moves are a positive indication of growing interest in Iraq’s oil industry by the US and other companies,” he added.

Khudair also revealed talks are under way with the US’ Chevron oil company for development contracts in the Southern Nasiriyah oilfield and Balad field in the North-Central Saladin governorate.

He said Iraq’s Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani has been involved in the talks in Vienna but did not provide further details.

Iraq, which controls the world’s fifth largest recoverable crude deposits, has been locked in a drive to attract foreign firms into its oil sector as part of post-conflict plans to expand crude output capacity by 50 percent to over six million barrels per day in 2028.

OPEC’s second largest oil producer has awarded nearly 30 contracts over the past two years to France’s TotalEnergies, BP and Chinese companies within oil licensing rounds 5 and 6. There are plans to hold a fresh licensing round this year.

Last week, Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding with the US HKN to more than double the production of a Northern oilfield that had been devastated by the ISIS during the conflict 10 years ago.

The Oil Ministry said the Texas-based Company has been awarded a contract to develop Hamrin oilfield in the Northern Saladin governorate.

Iraq controls around 145 billion barrels of oil and hopes development projects will boost the reserves to more than 160 billion barrels.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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