Halliburton signed the one-year contract with Shell on Tuesday to develop the Majnoon oilfield, according to a media source from Shell.

Hanadi al-Salman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency that, “according to the new deal, Halliburton will set up operation centers to dig 15 new wells,” he added.

When the contract win was originally announced in August, its estimated value was $150m.

A consortium including Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Malaysia’s Petronas have the contract to redevelop Iraq’s Majnoon oil field, one of the largest oil fields in the world.

Although the companies’ fee for raising output is considered small, it represents an important foothold in a country that potentially has massive untapped oil resources, said ING analyst Jason Kenney.

The Majnoon field, located in southern Iraq, holds some 12.8 billion barrels of oil reserves. The Iraqi state will hold a 25% interest in the licence, Shell will hold a 45% share and Petronas 30%.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

MEED reports that prospects look good for the only oil services companies eligible to bid for work on Iraq’s oil fields.

At the Adipec oil and gas conference, which took place between 1-4 November in Abu Dhabi, the stands belonging to the ‘big four’ US oilfield services companies — Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, Halliburton and Weatherford — were busy as people queued up meet their senior decision-makers.

Prospects are definitely looking up for the big four at the moment and the reason, according to MEED, is Iraq. They, together with local Oil Serv, are the only oil field services companies being allowed to bid for work on the country’s existing oil fields.

After spending so much money during the licensing rounds, the international oil companies need to ramp up production on the Iraq fields and the quickest way to do it is to give the work to the services companies on a turnkey basis. By taking on such a risky venture, these five companies are hoping that it positions them correctly for when the market opens up fully.

Working in Iraq is risky in many ways, but developing these oil fields is about as close as you can get to a sure thing in the country. The industry knows that developing Iraq’s hydrocarbon reserves is real and it is happening. That’s why the big four’s stands were so popular at Adipec.

With Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia becoming quieter as they reach their production targets, the whole of the upstream oil and gas industry is relying on Iraq to drive regional revenues for the next 10 to 20 years.

That is where the big four are going and the rest are queuing up to follow.

(Source: MEED)

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) has been awarded a wellwork integrated services contract by ExxonMobil Iraq Ltd. for refurbishment of wells in the West Qurna (Phase 1) field in southern Iraq.

Halliburton will provide on-site logistics and technical support for both rigless and rig-assisted workovers. Other services provided by Halliburton include provision of a workover rig, coiled tubing, slickline services, logging, production enhancement and well testing.

“We believe Halliburton’s strong presence in Iraq, coupled with our technical leadership, was a factor in securing this contract from ExxonMobil Iraq Limited,” said Dave Lesar, Halliburton’s Chairman, President and CEO (pictured).

“We’re pleased to see our investment and commitment to provide services within Iraq being recognized by companies such as ExxonMobil and its West Qurna (Phase 1) project co-venturers.”

Exxon plans to drill more than 1,000 new wells at West Qurna 1.

Halliburton is scheduled to release its third-quarter earnings on Monday, the first major oil services to report. ExxonMobil releases its third quarter results on Oct. 28.

Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. must face lawsuits brought by military personnel and contractors allegedly harmed by contaminated water and toxic emissions from burning waste in Iraq and Afghanistan, a judge has said.

U.S. District Judge Roger Titus in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is overseeing 43 lawsuits on the matter, yesterday rejected the companies’ claims of immunity for combat-related activities, saying he was concerned it would limit legal remedies for people who allege they were injured, according to the report from Bloomberg.

Plaintiffs claim that the Houston-based companies ignored the terms of contracts with the U.S. that required safe and environmentally sound waste disposal for troops. Improper disposal of waste in “burn pits” led to injuries including cancer and respiratory illness, law firms Motley Rice LLC and Burke PLLC said in a statement.

KBR, which split from Halliburton in 2007, said in a statement: “KBR is confident that the evidence will confirm that it performed waste disposal and water services pursuant to military direction and guidelines”. Halliburton reportedly declined to comment.

(Sources: Bloomberg, Baltimore Daily Record)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) has been awarded a contract by Eni to provide a range of integrated energy services for the redevelopment of the Zubair field in southern Iraq.

Work for the multi-million dollar contract is underway. Halliburton will perform services such as wire-line logging, perforating, acidizing and well testing on 20 wells.

“We are committed to providing Eni the critical services required to deliver on its goal of expanding production over the next several years,” said Dave Lesar, Halliburton’s Chairman, President and CEO.

“Halliburton has made a strategic investment in our Iraqi infrastructure and the award of this contract, coupled with the recent letter of intent awarded by Shell and its partners, demonstrates that we have the technology and people in place to deliver in Iraq.“

KBR (NYSE: KBR) today announced that it has been awarded two contracts by the Republic of Iraq Ministry of Oil through the South Refineries Company. KBR will provide licensing and basic engineering services for the construction of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and Solvent Deasphalting (SDA) units at the planned grassroots Maissan Refinery in Maissan [Maysan], Iraq. Work on the projects is expected to commence immediately.

KBR will license its FCC Technology for an anticipated 47,500 barrels per day (BPD) FCC unit and its Residuum Oil Supercritical Extraction (ROSE(R)) technology for a 45,000 BPD SDA unit. The FCC unit will be delivered under a joint marketing alliance between KBR and ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company (EMRE).

“These awards mark the first wins for KBR’s Technology Business in Iraq and provide KBR the opportunity to introduce two of its leading refining technologies into an important, emerging market,” said Tim Challand, President, KBR Technology. “We look forward to forging a solid and sustainable relationship with the Ministry and South Refineries Company.”

KBR is a global engineering, construction and services company supporting the energy, hydrocarbon, government services, minerals, civil infrastructure, power and industrial markets.

Further to our report last week Halliburton has confirmed that it has been awarded a letter of intent by Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V. for the development of the Majnoon field in Southern Iraq.

Dow Jones suggests the contract for the 15 wells could be worth $150m.

The giant Majnoon field is one of the world’s largest oilfields. The letter of intent provides that Halliburton will serve as project manager for the development work, in affiliation with Nabors Drilling and Iraq Drilling Company (IDC). The contract is still subject to final approval by the appropriate Iraqi authorities.

Shell is lead operator and holds a 45 percent share, partner Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) holds 30 percent and the Iraqi state holds 25 percent of the participating interests in all licenses. Shell has announced that the consortium intends to increase production from the current ~45,000 barrels of oil per day to a targeted production plateau of 1.8 million barrels of oil per day.

“Halliburton has made a sizeable investment in Iraq and we look forward to providing services to Shell and the consortium in order to increase production at this historic oil field,” said Dave Lesar, Halliburton’s Chairman, President and CEO. “We have in place the technology, equipment and personnel to ensure that we deliver the solutions that will help our customers in this region to meet their production goals.”

Halliburton has been active in the Middle East since 1946. Currently, Halliburton has more than 4,000 employees in the Middle East, and construction on phase I of Halliburton’s 400-man base in Burjisia, Iraq is complete.

(Sources: Halliburton, Dow Jones)

More details are coming to light regarding Petrofac’s new contract in Iraq, about which we reported last week.

Dow Jones reports that the two crude-oil processing plants will be at Iraq’s super giant Majnoon oil field, which is run by Iraq’s state-run South Oil Co., Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Malaysia’s state-run Petronas, and that the project is expected to take 18 months.

There was reportedly no comment from a Petrofac official based in Sharjah.

Update, 23rd August:

In Petrofac’s half-year results, published this morning, the only reference to Iraqi business was the following statement:

“In Iraq, we have commenced early stage engineering work for an International Oil Company which is expected to lead to a larger contract award during the second half of the year.“