Iraq Signs Deal with BP to Develop Kirkuk Oil and Gas Fields

This handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Media Office on August 1, 2024, shows him (C) looking on as BP CEO, Murray Auchincloss, (L) and Iraq's Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani al-Sawad, sign a memorandum of understanding to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Media Office on August 1, 2024, shows him (C) looking on as BP CEO, Murray Auchincloss, (L) and Iraq's Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani al-Sawad, sign a memorandum of understanding to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
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Iraq Signs Deal with BP to Develop Kirkuk Oil and Gas Fields

This handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Media Office on August 1, 2024, shows him (C) looking on as BP CEO, Murray Auchincloss, (L) and Iraq's Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani al-Sawad, sign a memorandum of understanding to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)
This handout picture released by Iraq's Prime Minister's Media Office on August 1, 2024, shows him (C) looking on as BP CEO, Murray Auchincloss, (L) and Iraq's Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani al-Sawad, sign a memorandum of understanding to develop four oil fields in Kirkuk. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)

Iraq has signed a preliminary agreement with British energy group BP to develop the northern Kirkuk oil and gas fields, the Iraqi prime minister's office said on Thursday.
Under the deal, which was signed in Baghdad between Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani and BP CEO Murray Auchincloss, BP will develop four oil and fields in the Kirkuk region, the statement from the Iraqi prime minister's office said.
BP will start drawing up a major plan to boost output capacity of crude oil and gas from Kirkuk, Bai Hasan, Jambour and Khabbaz fields, Iraq oil ministry officials said.
The Kirkuk field's reservoir was discovered in 1927 and is where Iraq's oil industry was founded, reported Reuters.
Iraq, the second biggest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries behind Saudi Arabia, currently has the capacity to produce almost 5 million barrels per day.



Dollar Hobbled by Economic Worries; Euro Remains in Favor

US dollar drifted within a tight range on Monday, pressured by lower Treasury yields - Reuters
US dollar drifted within a tight range on Monday, pressured by lower Treasury yields - Reuters
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Dollar Hobbled by Economic Worries; Euro Remains in Favor

US dollar drifted within a tight range on Monday, pressured by lower Treasury yields - Reuters
US dollar drifted within a tight range on Monday, pressured by lower Treasury yields - Reuters

The dollar hovered near a five-month low against major peers on Monday, bruised by President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies and soft economic data, at a time when other currencies, including the euro, benefit from domestic drivers.

The euro was last at $1.0905, up 0.2% on the day, and heading back towards the $1.0947 it hit last week, its highest since October 11.

The Japanese yen was also marginally stronger on the day at 148.48 per dollar, again after hitting its strongest in five months last week at 146.5 to the dollar.

That left the dollar index, which measures the US currency against its six major counterparts, at 103.5, just off its five-month trough of 103.21 reached last Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Currency markets have undergone a shift in recent months, as traders re-evaluate their initial expectations that Trump's economic policies would both support the dollar and cause other currencies to weaken.

In fact the reverse has happened, and analysts at Societe Generale said on Monday that they had changed their currency forecasts "to reflect Germany's planned fiscal changes, the US economy's self-inflicted (relative) fragility, and Japan’s escape from deflation".

They see the euro at $1.13 by year-end and the yen at 139 per dollar.