Oil firms evacuate some Iraq staff over regional tensions

Foreign oil firms including giants BP and Total evacuated some foreign staff from southern Iraq amid regional tensions, the state-owned Basra Oil Company said on Monday.

"Firms operating in the fields of the Basra Oil Company have temporarily evacuated some of their foreign personnel" including British BP, French Total and Italian firm ENI, the company said in a statement, adding that operations were not affected.

The evacuations are due to the "security situation" in the region, an official from the company told AFP.

Reporting by AFP