BP share price: Group lifts Iraqi oil cargoes as payment

A senior BP (LON:BP) executive has revealed that the British oil company has been taking more crude oil cargoes in the past couple of months as payment for its work in Iraq.

The fight against Islamic State and falling oil prices have forced the country to delay its cash payments to international oil companies (IOCs) so they have been allowed to take oil shipments instead.
Michael Townshend, BP’s president in the Middle East, told reporters in Abu Dhabi today that current total production from Iraq’s Rumaila field was about 1.4 million barrels per day and was expected to remain steady in 2015. “In terms of the position we have on Rumaila, the payments have picked up and I’m comfortable where they are,” Townshend stated, as quoted by Reuters.
The BP executive further revealed that the group had also extended an agreement with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil until the end of the year to help tackle declining production at the northern Kirkuk oilfield. The area of Kirkuk is currently the subject of a dispute between Iraq’s central government and Iraqi Kurds.
BP has also been on the news as today marks the 5th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occurred when an undersea oil well belonging to BP exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers.
BP’s shares have been trading in positive territory so far today. As of 15:02 BST, the stock was changing hands at 483.05p – 0.80 percent up intraday. The FTSE 100-listed oil major has gained over 17 percent since the beginning of the year.
As of 16:00 BST, Monday, 20 April, BP plc share price is 482.20p.