In a video clip broadcast on Facebook, the minister said: “The investment environment in Iraq is not suitable for maintaining large investors. All investors are either looking for another market, or they are looking for another partner.”
He added: “The investment environment in Iraq is not sufficiently encouraging for a large oil company to do business there. As an investment environment, we are not suitable for major partners.”
Abdul-Jabbar said that ExxonMobil wanted to sell its stake in the West Qurna 1 field for no more than $400 million, a price he described as “very cheap.”
He said that the state-controlled Basra Oil was considering a deal, Asharq Business reported.