Baghdad —BP, Eni and TotalEnergies have begun evacuating foreign personnel from Iraqi oilfields where they operate, state-run Basra Oil Company said on Monday.
Output from Iraq’s southern oilfields for the time being remains unchanged with exports averaging 3.32 million barrels per day, two oil officials told Reuters.
The measures follow U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and clashes between Israel and Iran, which borders Iraq.
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah had warned it would resume attacks on U.S. troops in the region if the United States intervenes in Iran.
U.S. oilfield services firm Baker Hughes is also taking temporary precautionary measures to shift staff out of the country, a spokesperson said, without elaborating.
“The companies operating in Basra Oil Company fields… have temporarily evacuated some foreign personnel, particularly BP, which operates in the Rumaila field,” Basra Oil said in a statement.
It added that the move would not affect production.
BP was not immediately available to comment.
Italy’s Eni, which has a technical service contract at Iraq’s Zubair oil and gas field, had reduced staff to 98 from 260, Basra Oil said, adding the workers that remained in the country were working normally with local employees.
A spokesperson had previously said Eni had reduced personnel as a precautionary move and was monitoring the situation in the region.
France’s TotalEnergies has evacuated 60% of its personnel, but this did not affect operations, Basra Oil said. The company was not immediately available to comment.
Work continued smoothly at the West Qurna/1, Siba, and Faihaa fields which are managed by Chinese companies, who did not reduce their staff, Basra Oil said.
Activities conducted by Russia’s Lukoil were also not impacted.
Chevron and Shell, which also operate in Iraq, declined to comment.
Crude oil hit a 5-month high overnight as markets brace for Iran’s response to US bombing.
Qatar said it had shut its airspace temporarily, hours after U.S. and British authorities recommended to citizens there that they shelter in place until further notice.
Those announcements, which triggered a slew of messages from many Doha-based institutions to employees and students, came as Iran repeated earlier threats to retaliate against the U.S.
The Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is the largest U.S. base in the Middle East, serving as the forward headquarters for U.S. Central Command and accommodating approximately 10,000 troops.
*Francesca Landini, Marwa Rashad, America Hernandez, Vallari Srivastava; Nayera Abdallah & Francesca Landini; editing: Tomasz Janowski & Jason Neely — Reuters
