Iraq: BP Says Taking More Oil from Iraq as Payment

Apr 20, 2015 | Reuters
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BP (BP.L) has been lifting more crude oil cargoes in the past couple of months as payment for its work in southern Iraq, and is comfortable with that level of shipments, a senior executive of the oil company said on Monday.

Low oil prices and the fight against Islamic State have forced Baghdad to delay billions of dollars of cash payments which it owes to international oil companies (IOCs), so they have been allowed to take oil shipments instead.

Michael Townshend, BP's president in the Middle East, ‎said current total production from Iraq's giant Rumaila field was about 1.4 million barrels per day and was expected to remain steady in 2015.