Chevron temporarily evacuates expat staff from Iraq

London — Chevron has temporarily evacuated expatriate staff and contractors from Iraqi Kurdistan in response to the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and heightened tensions in the Middle East, but said Monday its local staff continued work there.

Major international oil companies have stepped up measures to protect staff at Middle Eastern oil facilities, particularly in Iraq, following last's killing of the Iranian general in Baghdad by a US drone strike.

Factbox: Commodity markets on tenterhooks as Persian Gulf risks surge

Related coverage: US-Iran tensions

Chevron's operations are relatively distant from the tensions that have rocked Iraq, consisting mainly of exploration in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Chevron farmed down part of its interests in two Kurdistani licenses to Genel Energy last year.

"As a precautionary measure, Chevron's expatriate employees and contractors have left the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the time being," Chevron said in emailed comments. "We have competent local staff who are overseeing our ongoing operations in the KRI and our related expatriate workforce will continue to work remotely from overseas."

BP and Shell, both of which have operations in the southern region of Basrah, declined to comment Monday on security measures taken in response to the killing, which followed major unrest in southern Iraq since last year. ExxonMobil is believed to have evacuated its remaining expatriate staff from the West Qurna 1 field, which however continues to operate supervised by Iraqi staff.

-- Nick Coleman, nick.coleman@spglobal.com

-- Edited by Alisdair Bowles, newsdesk@spglobal.com