ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - In a ceremony on Tuesday evening in London, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), aimed at rehabilitating four Kirkuk oilfields, was signed between Iraq and the British Petroleum (BP) company.

The MoU was signed by Amer Khalil Ahmad, General Director of the North Oil Company, and the manager of the Iraqi branch of BP Zaid al-Yasiri, in the presence of Iraqi Minister of Oil Hayan Abdul Ghani to revamp and rehabilitate four oil fields in Kirkuk.

The four fields include the Baba and Avanah domes and three adjacent fields - Bai Hassan, Jambur, and Khabbaz, all operated by the Iraqi government’s North Oil Company.

Kirkuk is known for its vast natural resources and oil rich fields. 

The deal consists of rehabilitating existing facilities, where required, and the construction of new facilities - including gas expansion projects - together with a drilling programme at the Kirkuk fields, has the potential to stabilize production and reverse decline, returning production from this nationally important oilfield to a growth path, according to an earlier statement from BP in December.

Iraq has been looking for ways to increase oil production and sales from the city, namely, the attempts at reviving the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipelines to increase daily export of its oil.

The MoU came a day after Iraqi premier Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani visited the UK and met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles III.