Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS.A) on March 23 agreed to sell its entire stake in Iraq's West Qurna 1 oil field to Japan's Itochu Corp. for $406 million.
The deal comes shortly after the Anglo-Dutch company agreed to exit the Majnoon oil field, one of the largest fields in OPEC member Iraq, and hand over its operation to state-run Basra Oil Co. by end-June.
Shell EP Middle East Holdings BV will sell the entire share capital of Shell Iraq BV, which holds a 19.6% stake in the oil field to a unit of Itochu, the oil major said.
As part of the deal, Itochu will also assume debt of $144 million.
Shell has received the necessary regulatory consent, and was expected to complete the sale soon, with an effective date of Dec. 31, 2015, Shell said.
A senior Iraqi oil official had told Reuters in January that Iraq had approved the sale.
The West Qurna 1 oil field, operated by ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), produces around 405,000 barrels per day.
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