Shell to Sell West Qurna 1 Stake to Itochu for $406 Mln

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell (RYDAF) on Friday agreed to sell its entire stake in Iraq's West Qurna 1 oilfield to Japan's Itochu Corp for $406 million.

 

The deal comes shortly after the Anglo-Dutch company agreed to exit the Majnoon oilfield, one of the largest fields in OPEC member Iraq, and hand over its operation to state-run Basra Oil Co (BOC) by end-June.

 

Shell EP Middle East Holdings B.V. will sell the entire share capital of Shell Iraq B.V. (SIBV), which holds a 19.6 percent stake in the oilfield to a unit of Itochu, the Anglo Dutch company said.

 

As part of the deal, Itochu will also assume debt of $144 million.

 

The oil major has received the necessary regulatory consent, and was expected to complete the sale soon, with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2015, Shell said.

 

A senior Iraqi oil official had told Reuters in January that Iraq had approved the sale.

 

The West Qurna 1 oilfield, operated by Exxon Mobil Corp , produces around 405,000 barrels per day.


(Reporting by Arathy S Nair, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)