US oil giant evacuates foreign workers out of oil field in Iraq

BAGHDAD - The US Exxon Mobil oil company evacuated all its foreign workers out of West Qurna 1 oil field in Iraq's southern province of Basra, al-Arabiyah television reported Saturday.

The company started the evacuation on Friday and continued until early Saturday, as some of its staff were moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and some to the company's main headquarters in Basra, al-Arabiyah said, citing a security source in Basra.

The oil production of West Qurna 1 oil field was not affected by the evacuation as the work continued by the Iraqi engineers, it added.

And "there is no indication of threats and the situation is stable," an official from Iraq's Basra Oil Company told al-Arabiyah.

The evacuation came amid the tension in the region after US President Donald Trump decided not to re-issue the sanctions waivers for major importers to continue buying Iran's oil when they expired in early May, in a bid to pile up pressure on Islamic state.

The United States has also increased its military activities in the region recently, citing a threat of Iranian attack.