"There has been no violence related to this incident and we trust this will be resolved through peaceful diplomacy between the governments of Iraq and Iran," a US military spokesman told AFP at Contingency Operating Base Adder, just outside the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.
"The oil field is in disputed territory in between Iranian and Iraqi border forts," he said, adding that such incidents occur quite frequently.
An official of the state-owned South Oil Company in the southeastern city of Amara west of the field said: "An Iranian force arrived at the field early this morning (Friday).
"It took control of Well 4 and raised the Iranian flag even though the well lies in Iraqi territory," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"An oil ministry delegation is to travel to the area on Saturday to assess the situation."
Well 4 lies in the Fauqa Field, part of a cluster of fields Iraq unsuccessfully put up for auction to oil majors in June. The field has estimated reserves of 1.55 million barrels.
Iran has prevented Iraqi oil officials from reaching the well in the past, an oil industry source said. The Iraqis have accused Iran of firing on their people, something Tehran has denied.
There have been a number of meetings in recent years aimed at reaching agreement on border fields, so far without success.
No comments:
Post a Comment