The bereaved father, who lives near the Rumaila field in the southern province of Basra, is demanding that the firm compensate him for his son Ali’s medical expenses, which have left him in crushing debt.
He wants BP to cover the costs of his 21-year-old’s medical treatment — including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant — and his funeral following his death in April last year.
On April 22, he sent a Letter Before Action
to BP detailing his claim — the first step before a legal action is launched. If an agreement is not reached, the next stage would be court proceedings, according to Hausfeld & Co, the law firm representing Julood.
He said no amount of money would make up for his son’s death. But “what I am claiming is my right”, added the 55-year-old father of seven, from his modest home.
“I am not doing it only for Ali but also for the poor, sick and deceased in this area.”
Julood hopes that if he wins compensation from BP, oil companies will be more careful about flaring.
BP is one of the biggest foreign players in Iraq’s oil sector, with a history of producing oil in the country dating back to the 1920s when it was still under British mandate.
In the Rumaila field, it works in partnership with the state-owned Basra Oil Company.
In 2022, a BBC investigation into the elevated risk of cancer near oil fields in Iraq documented Ali’s life as part of the probe.
Football fan Ali was first diagnosed in 2016. During a medical appointment, Julood said that the doctor asked where the family’s home was.
When he said they lived near flare stacks, the doctor concluded: “That is why Ali has cancer.”
Gas flaring is the burning of excess gas during oil extraction. It produces vast amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and black soot, endangering health and the environment.
The process “produces a number of cancer-linked pollutants including benzene”, Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa warned in a statement about Ali’s case last month.
But gas flaring is also cheaper than capturing the associated gas, processing and marketing it.
As Julood nears his home, he is met with thick black smoke drifting through his neighbourhood from the gas flares.
Outside, children play football or ride their bicycles, seemingly unaware of the danger.
BP did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
But responding to the BBC’s investigation, the UK oil giant said it never operated the Rumaila field, and that it is paid “a fee for the technical services” it provides, which it has taken as allocations of crude oil.
