Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 5, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 1, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleBP evacuated its foreign staff from Iraq’s Rumaila oilfield after two drones landed there; Iraq has already cut oil output by ~1.5 million bpd amid export bottlenecks and storage running out.
BASRA, March 5 (Reuters) - Foreign staff were evacuated from Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield, run by British energy major BP, after two unidentified drones landed inside the field on Thursday, three Iraqi oil industry sources told Reuters.
"We are taking all necessary steps to support our partners and ensure the safety of our people," a BP spokesperson told Reuters.
"We are continuously assessing the situation, have been communicating with those people under our duty of care and will address them directly should there be a need for any change."
Two Iraqi oil officials told Reuters on Tuesday that the country had cut oil production by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day, adding those cuts could widen to more than 3 million bpd within days as the country runs out of storage and cannot export crude due to the Iran war. Iraq produced about 4 million bpd in January.
Output at Rumaila, which normally stands at around 1.4 million bpd, was reduced by 700,000 bpd, the officials said on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla, Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
BP evacuated its foreign staff from Rumaila oilfield after two unidentified drones landed in the field, raising safety concerns.
Output at Rumaila was reduced by 700,000 barrels per day following the drone incident and evacuation.
BP is assessing the situation, supporting partners, communicating with staff, and prepared to respond to any changes.
Iraq has trimmed oil production by nearly 1.5 million barrels per day, with possible further cuts due to storage and export issues.
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