NEW YORK: US energy giant ExxonMobil Corp has formally exited the West Qurna 1 oilfield in southern Iraq and handed over its operations to PetroChina as a lead contractor, says a deputy oil minister.

       Senior Iraqi oil officials met with executives from ExxonMobil, PetroChina and Basra Oil Co on Monday at the West Qurna 1 field near Basra to mark Exxon’s complete exit and the handover of its operations to PetroChina.

       “We are meeting to bid farewell to ExxonMobil,” Basim Mohammed, Iraqi deputy oil minister for upstream affairs, told Reuters at the field. — Reuters