Iraq's Basra oil production continues despite exit of foreign experts

Shafaq News- Basra

The departure of some employees from BP does not affect Basra’s oil production, an official told Shafaq News on Friday, after oil experts from Italian and British companies departed for Kuwait.

According to the head of the Oil and Gas Committee in the Basra Provincial Council, Iman Al-Maliki, the British company employs around 650 staff, while 80 left on Friday and 71 on Thursday due to unstable security conditions, including reports of two drones flying over the area.

Al-Maliki added that 52 employees from another energy company also departed on Friday, including one through the Safwan border crossing, describing the move as routine.

Energy Police forces escorted seven vehicles carrying experts to Kuwait from Italy’s Eni, operating in the Zubair oil field, and Britain’s BP, which operates in the Rumaila oil field, a security source told Shafaq News.

The convoy headed toward the Jreishan border crossing en route to Kuwait and onward to Saudi Arabia, the source added.

Earlier, experts from Chinese companies operating in Basra’s oil fields also left the province following the outbreak of the US–Iran war.