Iraq Asks BP to Develop Kirkuk Fields

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi has asked BP to "quickly make plans to develop the Kirkuk oilfields," an oil ministry statement said on Wednesday. Iraqi government forces on Monday took control of the oil-rich region of Kirkuk from Kurdish peshmerga fighters who had occupied the area in the course of the war on the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, Reuters reported. BP says on its website it has provided technical assistance in the past to the Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company to aid the redevelopment of the Kirkuk field. Kirkuk is estimated to have around 9 billion barrels of recoverable oil, BP said. Iraq, the second-largest producer in OPEC, pumps most of its 4.47 million barrels a day from fields in the south and ships it from the Persian Gulf port of Basra.