Foreign oil companies operating in Iraq are evacuating American employees from the oil city of Basra, following, the oil ministry said in a statement on Friday. Reuters reports that the foreign workers are leaving Basra by plane.
US-based ExxonMobil operates in the region, as does the British energy giant BP. Chevron, another American company, has operations in the northern Kurdistan Region, a spokesperson said. ExxonMobil declined to comment on staffing, and Exxon staff in Basra reached through LinkedIn did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
"We are closely monitoring the situation," an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Business Insider. "ExxonMobil has programs and measures in place to provide security to protect its people, operations and facilities. We are committed to ensuring the safety of our employees and contractors at all of our facilities around the world.