September 04, 2025 [Oil Price]- BP engineers have arrived in Kirkuk and have launched initial assessments at four strategic oilfields in the northern Iraqi province as part of the supermajor’s $25-billion deal with Iraq to redevelop Kirkuk fields, Iraqi industry sources told Shafaq News on Wednesday.

BP’s experts have started work to develop the infrastructure and production facilities of Iraq’s state-owned North Oil Company (NOC) and North Gas Company (NGC) in Kirkuk, sources from both companies told the Iraqi news outlet.   

The assessment process at the Kirkuk fields will be followed by a long-term development plan aimed at boosting production and improving efficiencies in oil and gas extraction, according to the Iraqi sources. 

In March this year, BP and Iraq finalized the agreement, which entails total investment of an estimated $25 billion, after the federal Iraqi government ratified the contract.

The redevelopment of several giant oil fields in Kirkuk will be carried out under a contract between NOC, NGC, and BP and includes the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the fields, spanning oil, gas, power, and water with potential for investment in exploration.

The agreement is for an initial phase that includes oil and gas production of more than 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, BP has said. It includes the Baba and Avanah domes of the Kirkuk oil field and three adjacent fields in Federal Iraq – Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz – all of which are currently operated by the NOC.

The wider resource opportunity across the contract and surrounding area is believed to include up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to the British supermajor. 

“This is an enormous opportunity as we grow bp’s oil and gas business and fully aligned with our strategy of strengthening our upstream portfolio,” BP’s chief executive officer Murray Auchincloss said in March. 

For Iraq, the agreement is aligned with its plan to raise its oil production capacity to above 6 million bpd by 2029, up from about 4.5 million bpd now. 

Production from Kirkuk oilfields is currently between 285,000 bpd and 330,000 bpd, most of which is for domestic consumption, with limited exports to Jordan, per official Iraqi data quoted by Shafaq News. The deal with BP is expected to raise Kirkuk production by between 50,000 bpd and 100,000 bpd in the coming years.