Page 10 - MEOG Week 08 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

IDC begins Majnoon drill work,

drive towards 450,000 bpd

IRAQ THE state-owned Iraqi Drilling Co. (IDC) this reasons. The two companies had signed a techni-
week reported that it had begun drilling the first cal services contract (TSC) for the field following
of a 43-well drilling campaign at the supergiant the second licensing round in 2009.
Majnoon oilfield as the field’s operator looks to This paid a maximum remuneration fee
ramp up output. of $1.39 per barrel, setting an ambitious pla-
A statement from the Ministry of Oil (MoO) teau production target of 1.8mn bpd, which is
seen by NewsBase said that IDC’s technical and unlikely ever to be reached.
engineering staff had begun drilling the MJ-129 Abdul Jabbar lauded BOC for reducing costs
well on behalf of Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC) associated with the field by 30% during the
subsidiary Basra Oil Co. (BOC) in the southern three and a half years it has been in charge of
Basra Governorate. proceedings.
IDC director-general Basem Abdul Karim In July, BOC and its engineering, procure-
was quoted as saying that the work followed ment and construction management (EPCM)
completion of “all the necessary preparations lead on Majnoon field development, KBR,
for preparing and operating the drilling rig awarded a contract to UK-based Proserv Con-
equipment”. trols to manufacture and deliver 22 wellhead
He said that the well would be drilled to a total control panels (WHCPs) for use in the field.
depth of 3,648 metres using the IDC 56 drilling Each of these can control up to four wells at
rig to target the productive Mishrif formation. once and BOC intends to employ the units on 70
The start of drilling follows the announce- new wells that continue to be drilled.
ment in December by Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Proserv has begun drilling the WHCPs and
Jabbar of a production capacity target of 450,000 expects to complete the contract by the end of
barrels per day, up from the current 240,000 bpd. Q1 2022.
With reserves of nearly 13bn barrels and far Majnoon is one of many fields targeted for
higher resources, Majnoon, whose name trans- a major capacity increase by the MoO, which
lates as ‘insane’, is one of Iraq’s largest assets, but is working to expand nationwide production
has so far failed to fulfil much of its potential. capacity from 5mn bpd to 8mn bpd by 2027.
BOC assumed operatorship of the field in IDC has announced the start of drilling cam-
2018 after the departure of Shell and Malaysia’s paigns across the country, including at Khabbaz
Petronas the previous year, with reservoir pres- in Kirkuk Governorate, Amarah and Buzurgan
sure concerns and corruption cited as potential in Missan Governorate and Zubair in Basra.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 23•February•2022