Making Headway in Rumaila

Basrah – The Rumaila oil fields, North and South, are getting their biggest face lift in a long time and at a rate which will see the fields doubling their output within three years to some 2 million barrels per day. At a joint management committee (JMC) meeting last week, the second so far since the Rumaila service contract won by BP and CNPC in June 2009 became effective Dec….

Race Against Time

Since the Rumaila service contract entered into effect on Dec.17, BP and the Rumaila operating division of SOC have not been wasting any time. They held the first joint management committee meeting on Jan.20, decided on a $1.7 billion budget for 2010, and launched the first tenders for drilling and supply contracts. The target is to add between 150,000-200,000 b/d by December 2010 and rehabilitate the gas oil separation facilities…

The State Partners

Iraq’s oil ministry did well in choosing different companies to represent the state stake in the consortia awarded contracts to develop oil fields. Unlike the old days when the state oil marketing organization (Somo) was considered the de-facto state partner, including in five oil deals signed before the 2003 toppling of the previous regime (two production sharing contracts with CNPC and Lukoil and three exploration contracts with PetroVietnam, ONGC and…

Final Tasks

The formal signing Sunday of the final agreement for the development of the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq by Royal Dutch Shell and its Malaysian partner Petronas, set the ball rolling for a series of signatures this week and next. By the end of January, all contracts awarded in the first and second bid rounds will become effective and operators will start the actual work on the ground. Southern…