石油设备网讯 据道琼斯伦敦1月19日消息，自从三年前伊斯兰国(Islamic State)迅速占领伊拉克北部地区以来，英国石油公司(BP)将首次重返该地区，这预示着全球最危险的能源生产省份之一的伊拉克基尔库克省有可能迎来新的稳定时代。
局势的变化让BP重新回到三年前撤离的地区。2014年时，由于伊斯兰国逼近，BP与伊拉克部队一起撤出了基尔库克省。在长达三年左右的时间里，在附近拥有一个半自治地区的伊拉克库尔德人保卫并控制着基尔库克及其油田，但在去年10月伊拉克部队击溃伊斯兰国进入该省后，库尔德人迅速弃守这些地方。
BP的决定标志着在伊拉克北部运营的石油公司们向业务正常化迈出了又一步。雪佛龙公司周三（1月17日）表示，将在库尔德地区政府控制的区域恢复钻井活动，此前在库尔德人与伊拉克部队冲突期间，雪佛龙放弃了该地区。俄罗斯国家石油公司Rosneft也已在伊拉克库尔德斯坦开展工作。
根据伊拉克石油部的一份声明，伊拉克石油部长Jabar al-Luaibi与BP在伊拉克的执行董事Michael Townsend周四访问了基尔库克油田，旨在表明该地区的安全性。
伊拉克官员表示，他们希望BP帮助提高基尔库克周边油田的石油产量，基尔库克位于巴格达以北约四小时车程。伊拉克官员称，他们希望该石油储量丰富地区的产量增加到每天75万桶，较当前水平提高60%。
BP表示，公司只是重新对基尔库克油田进行研究。BP勘探及开采业务主管Bernard Looney强调，该公司未做出投资10亿美元或任何类似的承诺。
唐绍红 摘译自 道琼斯
原文如下：
BP Returns to a Northern Iraq Now Free of Islamic State
BP PLC will return to northern Iraq for the first time since Islamic State swept through the region three years ago, potentially heralding a new era of stability in one of the world's most dangerous energy-production provinces.
The move thrusts BP back into a volatile region that it fled along with Iraqi forces in 2014 as Islamic State approached. Iraqi Kurds, who have a semiautonomous region of the country nearby, defended and held Kirkuk and its oil fields for about three years but quickly ceded them in October when Iraqi forces moved in after vanquishing Islamic State.
BP's decision marks another step toward normality for oil companies working in northern Iraq. Chevron Corp. said Wednesday it would resume drilling in the area controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government, after abandoning the area during clashes between Kurdish and Iraqi forces. PAO Rosneft, Russia's state-backed oil company, has also begun working in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In an indication of how secure the area is perceived to be, Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi and Michael Townsend, BP's executive director in Iraq, visited the Kirkuk oil fields Thursday, according to a statement from the oil ministry.
Iraqi officials said they want BP to help boost oil production from the fields around Kirkuk which is about four hours drive north from Baghdad. Iraqi officials said they want to ramp up output in the oil-rich region to 750,000 barrels a day of production--up 60% from current levels.
BP said it was simply renewing its commitment to study Kirkuk's fields. Bernard Looney, the company's chief of exploration and production, emphasized that BP wasn't "signing up to spending $1 billion or anything like that."
