Page 12 - MEOG Week 25 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Iraq announces WQ-1

output expansion plans

IRAQ IRAQ’S Ministry of Oil (MoO) this week Last month, BOC informed ExxonMobil that
announced plans to ramp up oil production it had rejected the proposed transfer of its stake
capacity at the supergiant West Qurna-1 oilfield. to China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and
MoO said that state-owned Basra Oil Co. China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC).
(BOC) had signed a contract with incumbent US Iraq Oil Report authenticated a letter with
operator ExxonMobil and services firm Schlum- Iraqi officials in which BOC said: “We’d like to
berger to drill 96 wells to enable an increase in let you know that we don’t agree with the terms
output capabilities from the current 500,000 bar- you’ve agreed to with the two companies.”
rels per day to 700,000 bpd. The state company added that it would not
According to a statement from Deputy Oil match the terms agreed with the Chinese firms.
Minister Karim Hattab, WQ-1 currently pro- “If BOC wants to buy your contract share, this
duces around 380,000 bpd of crude along with should be considered under new terms and con-
around 150mn cubic feet (4.25mn cubic metres) ditions,” it said.
per day of associated gas. This followed comments earlier in the month
The WQ-1 field development project taps by BOC director-general Khalid Hamza Abbas,
combined oil and condensate reserves of more who said that BOC had asked to buy Exxon’s
than 22bn barrels in the southern portion of the stake, noting that the company had valued its
broader West Qurna deposit, with the northern share of the remaining nine years of the TSC at
WQ-2 project led by Russia’s Lukoil. $350mn, with the full 100% at $1.07bn.
The news of the contract broke amid ongo- In a previous statement he said BOC had
ing efforts by ExxonMobil to transfer to another “hoped that Chevron would buy Exxon’s share
party its stake in the remaining nine years of the and be the replacement, but it seems that they
20-year technical services contract (TSC) signed didn’t have the desire to be the replacement. [The
in 2010. The super-major has already divested Ministry of Oil (MoO)] told us officially, with an
nearly half of its original 60% and is partnered official letter, referring to the contractual text …
by PetroChina (32.7%), Japan’s Itochu (19.6%), that ExxonMobil [is proceeding toward] selling
Indonesia’s Pertamina (10%) and Iraq’s state- its share to a coalition of the two companies, Pet-
owned Oil Exploration Co. (OEC, 5%). roChina and CNOOC.”™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 25 23•June•2021