Iraq suspends production at Rumaila oil field

Oil production has been fully suspended at the Rumaila oil field, Iraq’s largest oil field and one of the biggest in the world, local sources told Shafaq News on March 3.

The halt in output follows disruptions to export operations caused by ongoing military activity in the region. The instability led to a buildup of crude within the field, with storage tanks reportedly reaching full capacity, prompting authorities to stop production entirely.

In response to mounting tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran, units of the Iraqi Army, supported by armored vehicles, deployed across the Al-Zubair district west of Basra to secure oil fields and other strategic infrastructure.

The suspension at Rumaila comes as several international energy companies operating in Iraq scale back activities. US-based Gulf Keystone Petroleum announced on March 2 that it had halted operations at the Shaikan oil field in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region as a precautionary measure.

Dubai-listed Dana Gas and Oslo-listed DNO also took similar steps, underscoring growing concerns among foreign operators about the security environment.

By Sabina Mammadli