Bloomberg reports that Malaysia’s Petronas and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (JAPEX) will start producing crude from the Gharraf oil field in southern Iraq by September.

Sattar Mahdi, head of field development, said the field will initially produce about 35,000 barrels a day by the end of the third quarter, gradually increasing capacity to 230,000 barrels a day within five years.

The companies recently drilled four wells in Gharraf and will drill another 13 in the next six months.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Malaysia’s Synergistic Generation Sdn Bhd (SGSB), which is 60 percent owned by UMW Holdings Bhd, has entered into a $30 million contract  with Petronas Carigali Iraq Holding BV (PCIHBV).

The contract is for the procurement of materials and equipment and installation and commissioning of all equipment and facilities by SGSB for the setting up of the Garraf Power Plant Phase I at the Garraf oilfield.

(Source: Bernama)

As part of its third quarter earnings results, Schlumberger has issued the following statements on its operations in Iraq:

• In Iraq, Wireline MSCT* mechanical sidewall coring technology has been deployed on two exploration wells. Core recovery in the tight and fractured carbonate reservoirs was 100% for each job and the cores will yield the petrophysical properties needed to evaluate these difficult reservoirs accurately. The information will be integrated with other log data for better reservoir characterization and to subsequently design optimal testing and completion programs.
• Also in Iraq, Techlog* petrophysical analysis software has been introduced on a project on the Siba field to provide an independent evaluation on three wells as a first step to evaluate future exploration wells and build the reservoir simulation model. The workscope includes recommendations for further data acquisition and technical work, which will help reduce uncertainties in future field development plans. The project was conducted jointly by Data & Consulting Services and Schlumberger Information Solutions.
• Elsewhere in Iraq, Schlumberger has been awarded a new contract by PETRONAS Carigali. The PETRONAS contract covers well testing services for the Garraf field appraisal and development program that includes two exploration and nine development wells.
• In Iraq, Gazprom Neft Badra, B.V. has awarded Schlumberger a 3-year contract for well construction services covering 11 wells and requiring 3 drilling rigs. The contract includes technologies from IPM, Bits & Advanced Technologies, Drilling & Measurements, Geoservices, M-I SWACO, Wireline and Well Services, as well as the supply of third-party drilling rigs, coring, casing and well heads.
• In Iraq, as part of IPM operations on the Rumaila field for the Rumaila Operating Organization, Drilling & Measurements PowerPak* ERT high-performance steerable motors have been deployed in combination with Smith ONYX* PDC drill bits and M-I SWACO drilling fluids to drill the geologically challenging 8 1/2-in hole section. This was drilled in one run, with no service quality incidents, at a rate of penetration that reached section total depth three days ahead of plan.

(Source: Schlumberger)

Weatherford International has won a deal to build early production facilities at Iraq’s untapped Garraf oil field in southern Iraq, a former Iraqi oil ministry official said Wednesday, according to a report from Dow Jones.

Adnan Galay, who retired as chairman of the field’s joint management committee a few weeks ago, declined to give the value of the deal. However, contracting sources attending an Iraqi energy meeting in Istanbul said the contract is worth about $200 million.

Galay said that Lakeshore TolTest Corp will be a subcontractor to the project.

Weatherford was awarded the contract by the Malaysian company Petronas (45% stake) and its partners, Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) (30% stake), and Iraq’s state South Oil Company (25% stake).

Petronas, which has been considering bid proposals since the late summer of 2010, chose Weatherford over three rival bidders–Petrofac with JGC, and Saipem with Punj Lloyd.

The giant oil services company earlier this year won a deal worth $52 million to drill 11 new wells in Garraf, located halfway between the southern cities of Karbala and Nasiriya in Thi Qar [Dhi Qar] governorate. The field was discovered in the 1980s by the then Iraqi oil ministry, and has oil reserves of 1 billion barrels.

Output from the field is expected to hit 50,000 barrels a day next year, 60,000 barrels a day in 2013 and 100,000 barrels a day in 2014, Galay said.

Garraf has an eventual output target of 230,000 barrels a day, although the Petronas-Japex partnership may increase production beyond that level, officials said.

“Three wells have been drilled to date, and testing oil proves that gravity ranges from 24 to 36 degrees API in the two reservoirs of the field,” Galay said.

The Garraf early production work involves construction of a degasing facility with two trains of 50,000 barrels a day each, as well as storage tanks and infrastructure.

Weatherford earlier carried out the front-end engineering and design study at Garraf.

(Source: Dow Jones)

Reuters reports that the state-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) said on Thursday it expects to provide about 16.3 billion yen ($198 million) of capital in 2011-2012 to Iraq’s Gharaf [Gharraf, Garraf] oilfield development project.

In return, JOGMEC said it would take a stake of less than 50 percent in Japan Petroleum Exploration’s (Japex) wholly owned subsidiary that is taking part in the project.

Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas holds 45 percent of the oilfield development and production service project, Japex 30 percent, and Iraq 25 percent.

The consortium, which expects to invest up to $8 billion, expects oil production to start in 2012 at 50,000 barrels per day, rising to 230,000 bpd of plateau output from 2016.

In a statement, JOGMEC said: “It is expected that this project will contribute to strengthen and deepen a relationship with Iraq, as well as reinforce Japan’s energy security”.

(Sources: Reuters, JOGMEC)

Petronas, the Malaysian state oil firm, has agreed to train 60 Iraqi oil engineers to help it develop the Gharaf oilfield.

The engineers will attend an intensive 6-month course in Malaysia and will then be sent back home to supervise the company’s operations, according to a report from Azzaman.

Petronas and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) won the 20-year service contract to develop the 900-million barrel field. They have agreed to invest about $7 billion.

Petronas has a 60 percent stake in the venture, and Japex the rest.

Petronas and Japex will get $1.49 per barrel from Gharaf the development of which could churn out 230,000 barrels a day.

Iraq’s oil ministry announced on Friday that it would begin drilling for oil in the Gharraf oil fields by the end of the year.

(Source: Azzaman)

Iraq’s oil ministry announced on Friday that it would begin drilling for oil in the southern Gharraf oil fields by the end of the year.

Officials said initial production levels of 50,000 barrels per day from eight oil wells are expected.

Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Company (Japex) signed a deal with the Iraqi government late last year to develop the Gharraf oil fields.

The deal envisages 20 oil wells with an estimated daily output of 230,000 barrels over 20 years.

Iraq’s state oil company holds a minority share in the partnership.

Petronas has also just announced that it will train 60 Iraqi engineers in Malaysia to work on the Gharraf project.

(Sources: Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Rigzone, Azzaman)

Iraq's South Oil Company, working with the IOCs, has set quarterly
production targets for the country's southern oilfields for 2011,
according to documents obtained by Reuters.

Production is targeted reach an average of nearly 2.3m bpd by Q4 2011.

 Oilfields            Q1          Q2          Q3          Q4

 Rumaila           1,175,000   1,201,000   1,226,000   1,250,000

 West Qurna 1        260,000     270,000     285,000     300,000

 Majnoon              70,000      80,000      90,000     100,000

 Zubair              280,000     310,000     340,000     360,000

 Gharaf                  -           -           -        35,000

 Nahr Bin Umar        45,000      50,000      60,000      70,000

 Ratawi               10,000      14,000      18,000      25,000

 Luhais               60,000      70,000      80,000      85,000

 Tuba                 10,000      15,000      20,000      30,000

 Nassiriya            15,000      20,000      30,000      30,000

TOTAL              1,925,000   2,030,000   2,149,000   2,285,000

(Source: Reuters)

quarterly 2011 production targets for
Iraq's southern oilfields