雪佛龙寻求在伊拉克进行投资

    中国石化新闻网讯 据道琼斯8月18日消息，知情人士透露，雪佛龙公司正就投资伊拉克一个大型油田进行谈判，这为伊拉克能源行业投下了一张信任票，尽管该国能源业多年不稳定、外国投资时断时续。

    这些知情人士表示，雪佛龙和伊拉克政府暂时计划签署一份开发伊拉克南部一个大型油田的谅解备忘录。若达成初步协议，伊拉克新总理计划本周晚些时候访问华盛顿时可能会宣布这一消息。

    知情人士表示，任何交易的规模都将有限，一旦交易敲定，预计投资规模数亿美元。对于雪佛龙这样规模的石油公司来说，这是一个相对较小的承诺，但在油价大幅下跌的背景下，整个行业都大幅削减了支出。在新冠病毒疫情大流行迫使封锁和经济不确定性的情况下，石油需求已经显著下降。

    知情人士说，雪佛龙的谈判重点是在Nassiriya油田进行勘探工作，该油田储量估计有44亿桶原油。该油田并非伊拉克最容易勘探的油田之一。这些知情人士说，该油田需要像雪佛龙这样的大型国际石油公司能够提供的复杂技术。

    张春晓 摘译自 道琼斯

    原文如下：

    Chevron Pursues Exploration Deal in Iraq

    Chevron Corp. is in talks to invest in one of Iraq's large oil fields, according to people familiar with the situation, providing a vote of confidence in the country's energy industry despite years of instability and start-and-stop foreign investment.

    Chevron and the Iraqi government tentatively plan to sign a memorandum of understanding to develop one of Iraq's large oil fields in the south of the country, according to these people. The preliminary deal, if it is consummated, could be announced later this week during a planned visit to Washington by Iraq's new prime minister.

    Any deal would be limited in scope -- calling for an investment on the scale of hundreds of millions of dollars once it is finalized, according to these people. That's a relatively small commitment for an oil company the size of Chevron, but it comes at a time when the entire industry has scaled back spending sharply amid a steep drop in oil prices. Oil demand has fallen dramatically amid pandemic lockdowns and economic uncertainty.

    Chevron's discussions focus on carrying out exploration work in the Nassiriya field, which is estimated to hold about 4.4 billion barrels of crude, according to the people familiar with the matter. The field isn't one of the country's easiest to explore. It requires the sort of complex technologies that big, international oil firms like Chevron can provide, these people said.