BAGHDAD (AP) — Exxon Mobil expects to reach a deal by year’s end to sell its stake in a major oil field in southern Iraq, an Iraqi official said Friday.

Faisal Abdullah, spokesman for Iraq’s deputy prime minister for energy affairs, said the oil giant has reached out to several companies — including Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil, BP, CNPC and Eni — about its stake in the 8.6 billion barrel West Qurna Phase 1 project.