Chevron's expatriate employees and contractors have left the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for the time being as a precautionary measure.

Chevron's expatriate employees and contractors have left the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) for the time being as a precautionary measure, a company spokesperson has told Rigzone.

“The safety of our people and facilities is Chevron's top priority globally,” the spokesperson stated.

“We have local staff who are overseeing our ongoing operations in the KRI and our related expatriate workforce will continue to work remotely from overseas,” the spokesperson added.

The development comes after the U.S. military killed General Soleimani at the direction of President Trump. Following the killing, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, revealed that his country “will take revenge”.

When asked if they were moving staff as a result of escalating U.S.-Iran tension, fellow oil majors ExxonMobil, BP and Shell issued guarded responses.

“ExxonMobil has programs and measures in place to provide security to protect its people, operations and facilities. As a matter of practice, we don’t share specifics related to operational staffing at our facilities,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson told Rigzone.

A BP representative said the company does not comment on security or staffing issues and a Shell spokesperson said they couldn’t give any guidance on the matter.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com