Exxon agrees to sell stakes in West Qurna-1 to PetroChina, Pertamina

US firm ExxonMobil Corp has finally agreed to sell part of its shares in West Qurna-1 (WQ1) oil project in Iraq to PetroChina and Indonesia?s state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, reports said Friday.

Exxon said that PetroChina would take a 25 percent stake in the project and Pertamina would take a 10 percent stake.

After selling the stakes, Exxon will retain 25 percent of the field and continue as its operator. The rest of the field is owned by Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Iraq's state-owned South Oil Co.

The West Qurna-1 oilfield, one of the largest in Iraq, is located about 50km to the northwest of Basra and close to the north of Rumaila field where PetroChina is operating in Iraq.

?The entry into this WQ1 project will be beneficial for PetroChina to achieve synergies with its other projects in Iraq and can help the company to develop a larger and stronger presence in the upstream operations in the Middle East and positively drive the company to initiate a high-level starting and all-round strategic cooperation with other international oil companies in high-end oil markets,? PetroChina said in a statement received Friday.

The US$50 billion oil field, which currently produces around 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), may yield 1.8 million tons of crude oil when it reaches peak production. As a result, Pertamina could harvest 180,000 bpd in the future with only a 10 percent stake.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak