23rd Mar 2018 07:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirmed Friday it has sold its 20% stake in the West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq to Japanese firm Itochu Corp.
Shell, via its subsidiary Shell EP Middle East Holdings VP, has sold the entirety of Shell Iraq BV, which holds the interest in the oil field, to Itochu for USD406.0 million.
Itochu is also to assume debt of USD144.0 million as part of the transaction, Shell said.
Reuters in mid-January had reported the Iraqi government had given its blessing to the sale.
Upstream Director Andy Brown 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 joint venture, for domestic and regional consumption. This deal maintains the momentum behind Shell's USD30 billion divestment programme and is in line with the drive to simplify our upstream portfolio and reshape the company into a world class investment."
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