Page 9 - MEOG Week 22 2022
P. 9
MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
Iraq holds output expansion
talks amid confusion over target
IRAQ IRAQI Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar held production level of around 1.45mn bpd. The new
talks with BP and TotalEnergies about their plateau target was set last year, around the same
respective oilfield development projects in the time BP spun off its Iraqi holdings into the Basra
south of the country during a trip to Europe last Energy Company Ltd (BEC) joint venture (JV)
week. with PetroChina, which replaced the Rumaila
The meetings came as Abdul Jabbar reiterated Operating Organisation (ROO) as the field’s
that Iraq is seeking to ramp up oil production, main contractor.
but the figures he has provided in recent weeks The original 20-year long-term technical ser-
have given rise to confusion. He stated last week vice contract (TSC), which was awarded to the
that Iraq would achieve production capacity of companies in 2009 as part of Iraq’s first licensing
5mn barrels per day by 2025, up from a current round, was also extended and now expires in
level of 4.8mn bpd. However, two weeks earlier, 2034. The TSC agreement set an original plateau
he said the current capacity was 4.9mn bpd, not- production target of 2.85mn bpd with a maxi-
ing that the country was working to reach 6mn mum remuneration fee of $2 per barrel, though
bpd by 2027, below the previously issued target this was reduced to 2.1mn bpd as part of nego-
of 8mn bpd by the same date. The Ministry of Oil tiations in 2014.
(MoO) then said that the 8mn bpd target would To achieve the increase, BP agreed a deal with
be reached by 2028. the Iraqi Drilling Co. (IDC) in August for the
Whether the increase is of the order of 1mn drilling of 30 wells.
bpd or 3mn bpd, projects being undertaken by Abdul Jabbar also met with TotalEnergies’
BP and TotalEnergies will be key to achieving CEO Patrick Pouyanne in Paris to discuss infra-
the target. It was with this in mind that Abdul structure and clean energy as well as the imple-
Jabbar met with the British firm’s CEO Bernard mentation of the French firm’s multi-faceted
Looney in London. They discussed “mecha- 2021 agreement to develop oil, gas, solar and sea-
nisms for supporting development plans and water supply projects in the south of the country.
programmes for the Rumaila oilfield […] with The broad project targets an increase of
a view to achieve a plateau production target of 125,000 bpd of oil from the Artawi oilfield,
1.7mn bpd”, according to the MoO. 600mn cubic feet (17mn cubic metres) per day
Rumaila is believed to hold remaining com- of gas from several assets in the Basra Governo-
bined proven reserves and 2C resources of rate, 1,000 MW of solar energy and 5mn bpd of
around 14-15bn barrels of oil and has a current water supply.
Week 22 01•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
