Iraqi PM discusses Nasiriyah project, possibility of cooperation on West Qurna-2 field with Chevron
MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani has discussed investments in the Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq with the management of the U.S. company Chevron.
Opportunities for cooperation regarding the West Qurna-2 project were also considered, the press service of the Iraqi prime minister said.
In cooperation with international companies, Iraq prioritizes environmental components alongside the social agenda, al-Sudani said.
As reported, in August 2025, the Iraqi Oil Ministry and Chevron signed a preliminary agreement for the Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq, including four exploration blocks and the Balad field. The giant Nasiriyah oil field has estimated reserves of 4.4 billion barrels, which are considered hard-to-recover. Its development requires complex technologies possessed by major oil companies. Iraq has long offered this project to foreign investors, including Russian ones, as part of an integrated project that included the construction of a refinery with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. However, the country later abandoned this scheme. Chevron had been negotiating investments in this field since 2020.
Production at the West Qurna-2 field is 460,000 bpd, or almost 0.5% of global oil production. The project is being developed under a service contract signed by Russia's Lukoil in January 2010. Iraq's state-owned North Oil Company holds a 25% stake in the project. The contract term is 25 years. The field's initial recoverable reserves are approximately 14 billion barrels. Oil production at the project was supposed to increase to 800,000 bpd. Lukoil fully finances all project costs. After the completion of the historical cost recovery stage, the company began receiving full reimbursement of current costs in the form of a share in the produced oil. Lukoil also receives a fee amounting to its share (75%) of the $1.15 per barrel of oil produced due to the project participants, and also pays profit tax.
After the introduction of UK and U.S. sanctions against Lukoil in October, the company declared force majeure on the West Qurna-2 contract. The sanctions forced the company to announce the sale of its foreign assets. A key detail in the process is that the Trump administration would prefer that Lukoil's global assets are taken over by a U.S. entity, which could limit the pool of potential buyers, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg last month. Iraq's government is discussing seeking a six-month sanctions waiver from the U.S. Treasury Department for Russia's Lukoil to have more time to sell its stake in the West Qurna-2 oilfield, Reuters has said, quoting three Iraqi energy officials.
Iraq's Oil Ministry also planned to approach a number of leading U.S. producers to transfer the Russian company's stake in the field, Bloomberg reported.
