Shell today announced the sale of its 19.6% stake in Iraq’s West Qurna 1 oil field to a subsidiary of Japanese Itochu Corporation.
The deal, which was agreed for £287million, will also see Itochu assume £102million worth of debt as part of the transaction.
The West Qurna 1 field will continue to be operated by Exxon Mobil.
Andy Brown, Shell’s upstream director, said: “Iraq is an important country for the Shell Group, and exiting West Qurna 1 allows us to focus our resources on other assets in our Iraq portfolio.We are grateful for the support of the Iraqi government during the divestment process.
“Shell remains committed to working with its partners to redevelop Iraq’s energy infrastructure by capturing associated gas, through the Basrah Gas Company (BGC) Joint Venture, for domestic and regional consumption. This deal maintains the momentum behind Shell’s $30bn divestment programme and is in line with the drive to simplify our upstream portfolio and reshape the company into a world class investment.”
Shell’s other businesses in the country will not be affected by this divestment.