Iraq has approved the sale by Norway's Statoil ASA of its minority stake in a giant oil field to Lukoil OAO, making the Russian firm the sole foreign partner in one of Iraq's biggest new oil projects, two Iraqi oil industry sources said on Wednesday. Statoil will sell its 18.75 percent state in the West Qurna Phase-2 field to Lukoil, giving the Russian firm a 75 percent stake. An Iraqi state oil company owns the other 25 percent.
The deal makes Statoil the first big Western oil firm to abandon one of the lucrative oil deals offered by Iraq in recent years. "Statoil reached an agreement with Lukoil to sell its stake in West Qurna-2, and Iraq's Oil Ministry approved the deal," an Iraqi oil industry source said. Another Iraqi oil industry source confirmed the deal. "Statoil has sold its stake to Lukoil, and Lukoil now is the sole operator of West Qurna-2," the second source said.