BP Plans to Double Rumaila Production

By John Lee.

The coming year will see BP expand drilling work and upgrades to equipment at the vast Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, of which the company have a 50% stake.

BP operate the field with PetroChina, Iraq's South Oil Company and SOMO.

This work is carried out under the umbrella of the Rumaila Operating Organization, which oversees activity at a field which is thought to have some 20 billion barrels available for extraction. Some observers have noted that BP have played a "long game" in Iraq and that their patience with contractual difficulties and initial security concerns is paying off.

The aim of the new plan is to increase production at the field to 2.1 million BPD by 2020, double the current production. This has surprised some observers who are unfamiliar with Iraq's geography and do not realise that the ISIL terror group are operating hundreds of kilometres to the north.

The 25 year contract at the Rumaila field is expected to generate $1 trillion for the Iraqi economy.

(Source: Various publications)