Iraqi government forces remove a Kurdish flag from the Bai Hassan oil field, west of the multi-ethnic northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, on October 17, 2017.

Iraq urged BP to help develop oilfields in the disputed city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, after central government forces loyal to Baghdad swept through the Kurdish-held territory at the start of the week.

Iraqi forces began a takeover of almost the entire disputed Kirkuk province Monday, with Kurdish forces retreating to nearby oilfields.

The military maneuvers in northern Iraq come after the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a referendum last month. The vote was subsequently declared illegitimate by Iraq's central government.

Baghdad is reportedly seeking to double Kirkuk's oil output to more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and has requested the support of Britain's oil major to help achieve this aim.

Iraqi Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi asked BP "to quickly make plans to develop the Kirkuk oilfields," as reported in an oil ministry statement Wednesday.



Speaking Wednesday at the Oil and Money conference in London, BP CEO Bob Duley said: "We know Kirkuk well... and we were doing technical work there up until 2015. But I haven't read these comments or heard from him (Jabar al-Luaibi)."