Iraq has reached an agreement with Norwegian shipbuilder Batservice Mandal over the construction of two oil tankers with a capacity of 30,000 tons each, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said on Tuesday.
The tankers will be delivered in 18 months and are part of the ministry’s efforts to rebuild an Iraqi tanker fleet that has been depleted during decades of war, his statement read.
Ahmed Khazal, general director of the Iraqi Oil Tanker Company, said that the two oil tankers will have a capacity of 30,000 tons each, and be delivered 18 months after the date of signing the contract.
In a related context, The Wall Street Journal revealed that “Chevron Corp. is in talks to invest in a major Iraq oil field... Chevron’s discussions focus on carrying out exploration work in the Nassiriya field, which is estimated to hold about 4.4 billion barrels of crude.”
If completed, the deal will be announced during the visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to US President Donald Trump later this week.
"Iraq plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with Chevron Corp. to explore for oil in the country’s southern province of Dhi Qar, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal would exclude areas of the province that contain oil fields and exploration blocks," according to Bloomberg.
It added, "Chevron began talks with OPEC’s second-biggest producer two years ago and resumed meetings with oil ministry officials recently."
Bloomberg stated that: "While any production would likely be years away, the California-based oil major is looking to use this year’s crude price crash to gain access to quality reserves cheaply, while European rivals are focusing on a transition to low-carbon energy sources and Exxon Mobil Corp. is reining in spending."
Earlier, Dow Jones reported this MoU and said it could be announced later this week when Kadhimi visits Washington.
