Iraq To Boost West Qurna 1 Oil Output After Exxon Evacuates Staff

Iraq will raise the oil production from its giant West Qurna 1 field by as much as 50,000 bpd in the next few days, a senior industry official told Reuters on Wednesday, days after the oil field developer ExxonMobil evacuated all its foreign staff from the field amid security concerns. Currently, the West Qurna 1 oil field pumps around 440,000 bpd, while Iraq’s intention is to increase that production to 490,000 bpd within days, Basra Oil Company chief Ihsan Abdul Jabbar told Reuters. Last week, ExxonMobil began evacuating its engineers working…