ConocoPhillips has agreed to acquire a 42% stake from BP in a company formed to redevelop the supergiant Kirkuk oilfield in northern Iraq. The move comes as the Trump administration seeks to deepen ties with Baghdad and counter China’s growing influence in OPEC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The announcement follows a series of high‑profile visits by Iraq’s prime minister Ali al‑Zaidi to the US and is part of a broader strategy to attract US oil majors back to the country after a decade of limited activity. Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria and Iraq, has been instrumental in arranging agreements between US firms and Baghdad.

BP’s long‑standing connection to Kirkuk dates back almost a century, with the company estimating up to 20bn barrels of oil equivalent in the region. BP said remuneration for the new production company would be linked to incremental production volumes, price and costs. The field currently produces around 300,000 barrels per day, far below its 1970s peak of 1.5mn b/d.

ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance called the partnership a “unique redevelopment opportunity,” while BP’s chief executive Meg O’Neill praised Kirkuk as a “world‑class resource base” and welcomed the collaboration to boost output.