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Statoil seeks Iraq sale consent
Norway’s Statoil wants to sell its stake in a giant 12.9bn barrel oilfield in southern Iraq to Russia’s Lukoil, and the Iraqi oil ministry has no objection “in principle”, an Iraqi oil official said yesterday. Statoil holds 18.75 per cent of the West Qurna Phase-2 field, with Lukoil at 56.25 per cent and Iraq’s North Oil Company 25 per cent. The Norwegian state company has considered quitting Iraq for some time and turning its attention to less-risky assets elsewhere, industry sources said. It is planning billions of dollars worth of investments in areas such as offshore Norway and in the US.