Iraq reaches agreement with Exxon on West Qurna-1 field

The US oil giant ExxonMobil and Iraq have reached an agreement on the
participation in the development project at the West Qurna-1 field after
several months of negotiations, RIA Novosti reports with reference to
Reuters and a source familiar with the situation.

After lengthy negotiations, the parties reached an agreement under which
Exxon will receive a portion of payments in the form of oil. In addition,
according to the agency, Exxon and its partner on the development of the
field, the Royal Dutch Shell company, have spent about 910 million dollars
on the development of the West Qurna-1. 470 million out of this sum will be
paid in cash.

At the end of last year, Exxon and the Iraqi authorities had disagreements due
to the fact that the American company intended to work in Kurdistan. The
government of this country is not officially recognized by Baghdad.