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By Isabel Coles and Peg Mackey
ARBIL, Iraq/LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Baghdad and foreignoil companies at work in Iraq's giant oilfields are adoptingextra security measures in anticipation of retaliatory attacksif the United States strikes neighbouring Syria, industrysources said on Friday.
Car bombs and other attacks in recent weeks have led to thedeaths of hundreds of Iraqis as the civil war in neighbouringSyria aggravates deep-rooted sectarian divisions.
So far the violence in Iraq has not hit the operations ofcompanies such as Exxon Mobil, BP, Eni and Royal Dutch Shell or deterred them from increasingoil output and turning Iraq into OPEC's second-biggest producer.
Since 2010, these companies have been reviving the southernfields near the oil hub of Basra, helping raise output by600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 3 million bpd, and they want tocarry on expanding output without incident.
"All the foreign companies are taking additional measures toguarantee their staff remain safe," a Western oil industrysource said on condition of anonymity.
The oil majors, as a rule, declined to comment on theirsecurity arrangements.
As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for limited strikesagainst Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces, Iraq's SouthOil Co (SOC), which oversees operations around Basra, has warnedWestern oilmen to restrict their movements.
"After the fears of the Syria strike, we have notified allforeign companies: British, American and others, to reduce theirmovements inside the city," an SOC source said.
KEEEPING HEADS DOWN
Not only will Western firms keep a low profile, they arealso likely to cut their exposure to risks in Iraq.
"I think all Western companies will be careful not to havetoo many people in Iraq as long as the American war games last,"a senior oil executive in Baghdad said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the UnitedStates had intercepted an order from an Iranian officialinstructing militants in Iraq to attack U.S. interests inBaghdad in the event of a strike.
An Iraqi Shi'ite militia group also has threatened to attackU.S. interests in Iraq and the region if Washington strikesSyria.
The Ministry of Oil requires foreign oil companies to haverepresentative offices in Baghdad, where bombings and attacksare killing scores of Iraqis on nearly a daily basis.
Compared with Chinese, Russian and British firms, U.S. oilcompanies have a fairly small footprint in southern Iraq. Exxonis in charge at West Qurna-1, and Occidental has a smallstake in the neighbouring Zubair oilfield, operated by Italy'sENI.
Other mega-projects in the predominantly Shi'ite andrelatively peaceful south are Iraq's biggest producer Rumaila -run by BP; Majnoon - led by Shell; Halfaya - operated by ChinaNational Petroleum Corp; and West Qurna-2, run by Russia'sLukoil.
"Incidents in the south are increasing, although there'sbeen no impact on any of our projects," another senior Westernoil executive said.
In the autonomous Kurdish region, companies are also urgingcaution, even though the northern enclave has so far managed toinsulate itself from the violence that plagues other parts ofIraq.
"To date we have not increased our security measures, but asalways in areas like Iraq, our personnel are on high alert, andtravel to the area is restricted to essential personnel,requiring prior approval," a Western oil company source said.
The Iranian message was reportedly sent by the head of theRevolutionary Guards' Qods Force to Shi'ite militia groups itbacks in Iraq, according to anonymous U.S. officials cited bythe Journal.
Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, which opposes anyinternational military strike on Syria and is close to Iran, isgrappling with a Sunni insurgency fuelled by the conflict nextdoor and recently reinforced the border between the twocountries.
Iraqi forces are on high alert in the north, where suspectedSunni militants have repeatedly attacked the main pipeline toTurkey in recent months, disrupting exports to world markets andfrustrating Baghdad's oil expansion plans.
"During the last few days, as preparation for any emergency,we increased checkpoints near the oil installations andincreased the number of security forces protecting them,especially the sites where the extraction of oil and therefineries are," a source at Iraq's North Oil Company said.
