Page 9 - MEOG Week 30 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

IDC maintains drilling momentum,

completes first Nasiriyah well

IRAQ THE state-owned Iraqi Drilling Co. (IDC) this a week owing to safety concerns about its work-
week announced that it has completed the first force amid reports of violent protests across the
well of a 20-well drilling campaign at the Nasiri- governorate by university graduates demanding
yah oilfield in the southern Dhi Qar Governorate job opportunities.
as it continues operations elsewhere. Prior to the shutdown, members of the
IDC’s Director General Basem Abdul Karim al-Bedor tribe had staged protests at Nasiri-
said that the company’s technical and engineer- yah’s gas isolation station at Kati’ah, demanding
ing staff completed well 48 in collaboration with employment and the establishment of a new
US services firm Weatherford on behalf of the military regiment that will employ those with-
Dhi Qar Oil Co. (DQOC), a subsidiary of the out qualifications.
Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC). DQOC also oversees the development of the
He noted that the well was drilled using the Subba field and has been in discussions with US
IDC 44 rig, which is one of four units allocated to major Chevron for oil exploration elsewhere
carry out the drilling programme over a period in the governorate, though talks were paused
of 18 months. in February until a new government has been
IDC has 43 drilling and workover rigs in appointed in Baghdad.
operation across Iraqi oilfields. IDC also recently completed work drilling
The official said in April that the wells would the J120P well at the Al-Gharraf oilfield, reach-
be drilled to a planned depth of 2,200 metres. ing a total depth of 3,037 metres, with two fur-
Nasiriyah was shut in during February ther wells completed over the weekend at the
after protestors blocked workers’ access to the Majnoon and Zubair oilfields taking the total
site. Capacity at the field is believed to stand at number of wells drilled and reclaimed so far in
around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd), produced 2022 to 92, according to Abdul Karim.
from the Mishrif formation, though production He explained that the MJ-136 well was drilled
over the last two years has been hamstrung by for Majnoon’s operator the Basra Oil Co. (BOC)
Baghdad’s efforts to comply with OPEC+ output as part of a 43-well campaign in collaboration
restrictions. The field has estimated reserves of with Halliburton, while the ZB-536 well was
4bn barrels. drilled for Zubair’s Italian operator Eni in just
In a statement, DQOC closed operations for 22 days.™

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