Chevron expects to restart drilling in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region in Iraq and is taking steps to remobilize staff and equipment, The Wall Street Journal quoted a Chevron spokeswoman as saying on Tuesday, in what could be a sign that the Iraq-Kurdistan tensions may have eased. Following the Kurdistan region’s independence referendum and Iraq’s federal government backlash against Kurdistan, Chevron temporarily suspended drilling in the region in October 2017. Chevron has had operations in Kurdistan since 2012. The U.S. oil supermajor operates and holds an 80-percent stake in the Sarta production-sharing contract (PSC) and the Qara Dagh PSC. The two blocks cover a combined area of 279,000 net acres. According to Chevron’s website, the U.S. company completed a second exploration well in the Sarta block at the beginning of 2016 and was planning further evaluation of the block. Chevron “expects to restart our drilling operations at our Sarta 3 […]