Nawar Abdulhadi: As an industry expert and ENI Iraq Managing Director, how would you summarize your experience working in Iraq?
Mr Loris Tealdi: Working in Iraq requires motivation, resilience, passion for work, technical competence and strong negotiation skills. After 2 years in this role in the Country, I can say that working in Iraq has been a very exciting but extremely challenging professional experience. The relationships and personal trust built by Eni and the SOC/MOO personnel based upon transparency, integrity and technical competence have been the drivers that allow us to grow significantly over last years. The involvement of all the Iraqi and the expatriates as one unique team for the successful development of the Zubair field has been the key. The results have been extremely positive from both an operations and a project development perspective. Also, the project cost recovery has been positive over last period thanks to the cooperation of SOC following their entry in the Zubair JV.
At the beginning of March 2016, three new generation plants for oil, gas and water treatment (Initial Production Facilities – IPF) started operating in Zubair. Those plants, together with existing restructured and modernized facilities, increased the oil and natural gas treatment capacity of Zubair to approximately 650,000 barrels of oil per day (boed) and will ensure the maximization of the associated gas utilization. In addition, these facilities have a water re-injection capacity of approximately 300,000 boed that will boost Zubair’s hydrocarbons production further. In addition, the construction of a further oil treatment plant named DGS North with a capacity of additional 200,000 boed is in full execution.
Over last two years Eni has increased its output in Zubair of about 70% to the current level above 430,000 boed. In addition, water injection rose to about 450,000 bwpd ensuring the maximum recovery of reserves. Zubair can further grow in the near future if the cooperation with the local authorities remains positive as has been over the recent past. Thanks to its distinctive expertise and the important training of local resources, Eni’s operational efficiency has improved dramatically both in terms of productivity of wells and in terms of drilling and plant management capabilities and reduced downtimes. The significant achievements in the technical and operational performance improvement of Zubair were obtained through excellent performance in terms of safety at work and respect for the environment.
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