Iraq’s oil minister said in a statement on Sunday that Exxon Mobil’s decision to take its foreign employees out from the West Qurna 1 oilfield was unjustified, according to Russia Today.
The minister added that the withdrawal does not pose a threat to the country’s oilfields.
“The withdrawal of multiple employees – despite their small number – temporarily has nothing to do with the security situation or threats in the oilfields in of southern Iraq, but it’s for political reasons,” Thamer Ghadhban said in a statement on Sunday as reported by RT. The official slammed the decision as “unacceptable and unjustified” as the companies operate freely and safely in the region.
It was earlier reported that major US energy company, Exxon Mobil, evacuated around 60 non-Iraqi staff from the oilfield in southern Iraq as an alleged precautionary measure under the pretext of rising tensions in the Middle East between neighboring Iran and the US.
KI/PR