Security incident at Ratawi over land claims

BASRA - Unidentified gunmen traveling in four pickup trucks threatened to disrupt work at the Ratawi oil field, operated by France’s TotalEnergies, in what security officials described as either a demand for land compensation or an extortion attempt.

Contrary to reports in local media, the incident late Monday night did not target TotalEnergies or involve any of the company’s personnel, according to two security officials and a statement by the state-run Basra Oil Company (BOC). Rather, the security officials said, the gunmen confronted employees of a local mine clearance company that had been subcontracted by the Ratawi consortium to clear land being used for the further development of the field.

“Extortionists threatened a mine clearance company subcontracted by Total,” said Fawzi al-Abadi, director of oil facilities protection in Basra. “The Basra Operations Command is taking measures to secure the sites and hunt down the suspects and bring them to justice.”