Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani held a meeting with senior oil and finance ministry officials on 2 April to discuss delays in finalizing a $430mn settlement between state firm Basrah Oil Company (BOC) and Lukoil. The settlement is a key step to end the Russian private firm’s contract at the 480,000 b/d-capacity West Qurna-2 (WQ-2) oil field and pave the way for US major Chevron to begin exclusive talks with BOC to sign a new contract to operate the field (MEES, 27 February).
An oil ministry readout said that “key points” were settled during the meeting, without providing further detail. A final recommendation will be submitted to cabinet, presumably for its regular meeting next week. (CONTINUED - 169 WORDS)