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By John Lee.

Oil Minister Dr. Adel Abdul Mahdi [Adel Abdel Mehdi] (pictured) has announced the establishment of three new oil companies.

The Dhi Qar Oil Company has been set up to put the extraction and production of oil from fields in Dhi Qar under their direct supervision of the people of the province. This follows the successful developement of the fields at Nasiriyah and Gharraf.

The Ministry is also setting up a new oilfield services company and a new crude oil pipelines company.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

By John Lee.

International oil companies (IOCs) in southern Iraq are seeking to push ahead with their own water injection facilities to meet production targets, according to a report from Platts.

Malaysia's Petronas, operator of the Gharraf [Garraf] oil field, is the latest to ask the Ministry of Oil for permission to build a standalone facility, as the new multi-billion dollar Common Seawater Supply Facility (CSSF) project remains stuck in the conceptual design phase.

The $5 billion first phase of the CSSF, which will provide 4 million bpd of treated water for the management of reservoir pressure, is not expected before the end of 2018 at the earliest, assuming the two contracts for design work are signed immediately.

Platts reports that project management consultants CH2M Hill had been hoping to award the front-end engineering and design (FEED) in the second quarter of 2013 and start the project in the third quarter of 2017, but the company is still waiting for details from the oil ministry, and its subsidiaries South Oil Company (SOC) and State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), specifying the amounts of water required for each field and the time schedules.

This has been held up by delays to final agreements with the oil companies on their revised plateau targets. For the largest fields -- West Qurna-1 and Rumaila -- new deals were only reached in September, while negotiations are still going on with Shell for the Majnoon oil field.

Complicating matters further is the fact that only two firms are in the running for each of the main FEED contracts -- the US' Parsons for the water treatment plant and Austria's ILF Consulting Engineers for the pipeline contract.

The total cost of the various water schemes is put at more than $10 billion (12 trillion Iraqi dinars).

(Source: Platts)

Gazprom Neft, operator of the Badra oilfield development project (pictured), has appointed a contractor to lay the pipeline connecting the field to the power station in Zubaidiah (Wasit Province). The tender was won by Pakistani company Techno Engineering Services (Pvt.) Ltd.

In line with the contract, Techno Engineering Services will produce the designs, supply the equipment and materials, and carry out construction of the pipeline. First gas transportation via the pipeline, which is almost 100 km in length and has a daily capacity of 4.4 million cubic metres (circa 1.6 billion cubic metres per year), is planned for 2015.

Under Gazprom Neft's contract with the Iraqi government for the development of the Badra oil field, investors are to be compensated for costs related to infrastructure construction.

Gas supply from the Badra oil field will enhance the Zubaidiah power station's daily power output and provide a 24-hour power supply to the city of Kut, which currently has electricity supplied for only 16 hours per day. Some of the extracted gas will be used to provide electricity to the Badra oil fields themselves.

In March Gazprom Neft completed testing on a second well at Badra. The laying and testing of the oil pipeline to the Gharraf oilfield was completed in February, connecting the section to Iraq's main pipeline system. The construction of the first phase of a central gathering station point with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day is nearing completion. Work has also started on a gas treatment plant with the capacity to process 1.5 billion cubic metres per year.

(Source: Gazprom Neft)

Gazprom Neft has completed laying, testing and connecting a 165 km oil pipeline from the Badra field, which the Company operates in Iraq, to the Gharraf oilfield (Nasiriyah district, Iraq).

With infrastructure already in place at Gharraf, completion of the pipeline from Badra means that the field is now connected to the main Iraqi pipeline system.

The new infrastructure for transporting raw materials from Badra has the capacity to transport 204,000 barrels per day, around 10 million tonnes per year, and can now supply oil to the export terminal at the city of Basra.

The Badra-Gharraf pipeline has two underwater transits, including one crossing the river Tigris, and passes over dozens of canals and irrigation systems. For increased operating security, a system to detect leaks and shut off damaged sections and a power supply system running on solar cells will work along the entire length of the pipleline.

Automated systems ensure constant monitoring of the oil transit and real-time management of the pipeline from the Badra field. Gazprom Neft has successfully completed hydrodynamic testing of all sections of the pipeline and the system has been checked for robustness and integrity.

Gazprom Neft produced its first oil at Badra in December 2013 as part of operating tests on well BD4. Work is currently continuing at the site to develop the infrastructure necessary to launch production, which is scheduled for the first half of 2014.

The construction of a central gathering station (CGS) with a capacity of 170,000 barrels per day is under way. The first CGS line will be coming into operation imminently, with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. Work has also started on a complex gas treatment plant (UKPG) with the capacity to handle some 1.5 billion cubic metres per year.

(Source: Gazprom Neft)

Korea's STX Heavy Industries has announced another major contract win in Iraq.

The $99.5-million deal will see the company build a new gas treatment facility at the Gharraf [Garraf] oilfield.

Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas holds 45 percent of the Gharraf project, Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) 30 percent, and Iraq’s North Oil Company (NOC) 25 percent.

STX said that the project is expected to be completed by the end of November 2015.

Earlier this month, the company announced a $449m order to build a 550km pipeline in the Akkas gas field.

(Source: ConstructionWeekOnline)

By John Lee.

Russia's Gazprom Neft has picked a contractor to drill six production wells in the Badra field in Iraq which it operates. China’s Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Co., Ltd (ZPEC) has won the tender.

The contract includes engineering, procurement and drilling of wells. Two rigs will start drilling in March 2014.

Two wells are currently undergoing tests in Badra and a third will be launched in early 2014 under earlier signed contracts. The infrastructure required to make the field operational in early 2014 will include the Central Collection Point with a total capacity of 170,000 barrels a day.

The first 60,000 barrels a day unit is due to be launched within months. A pipeline to the Garraf field, shortly to be completed, will deliver oil to Iraq’s long-distance oil transportation system.

(Source: Gazprom Neft)

(Picture: Drilling at Badra oil field)

By John Lee.

Thamir Ghadhban (pictured), chairman of the advisory commission to Iraq's Council of Ministers, has said that he expects a robust return to growth next year as foreign companies push output from the southern oilfields to new records.

Output is expected to rise by at least 500,000 barrels per day to an average of 3.5 million bpd, as the Majnoon, Garraf and Halfaya oilfields ramp up, and the Badra field comes on line.

Production this year is likely to average more than 3 million bpd, slightly up on 2012, but by the end of the year rates are likely to reach a level of 3.5 million bpd, added the former oil minister.

(Source: Reuters)

By John Lee.

The Gharraf [Garraf] oil field in Thi Qar [Dhi Qar] province, 85km north of the City of Nasiriyah, produced its first commercial output of oil on 31st August.

Iraq's Ministry of Oil said the flow rate was 35,000 barrels a day, and peak production of 230,000 bpd was expected in 2017.

Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX), in partnership with Malaysian national oil company PETRONAS and the Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company (NOC), secured the winning bid for the field in December 2009 under Iraq's Second Petroleum Licensing Round.

In July 2010, JOGMEC granted equity financing to Japex Garraf Ltd., an affiliate of JAPEX, for the development of the field.

(Sources: Ministry of Oil, JOGMEC)

By John Lee.

Iraq's Ministry of Oil has announced that the long-awaited start of production at the Gharraf [Garraf] oilfield is now scheduled for the end of August.

Initial output is expected to be 35,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The company previously had a plan to start operations by September of last year, and were urged last summer by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Hussein al-Shahristani to speed up progress on the project.

Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas holds 45 percent of the oilfield development and production service project, Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) 30 percent, and Iraq’s North Oil Company (NOC) 25 percent.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

Iraq's oil exports are stagnating compared with numbers from this time last year, and are set to fall sharply next month. This plateau in exports comes as major work is carried out in the vital southern export terminals, Reuters sources explained.

Infrastructure and security problems are at the heart of Iraq's struggle to keep pace with last year's rates, although Baghdad is confident of a big rise in production by the end of the year once the giant southern Majnoon oilfield begins producing.

Iraq's overall exports of 2.324 million barrels per day (bpd) in July were down a small fraction on June, Iraq's oil ministry spokesman Asim Jihad said on Wednesday. Southern Basra Light exports are expected to drop by 500,000 bpd in September while metering equipment is installed at the terminal.

Reuters is also reporting that Iraq's major customers say state oil marketer SOMO is suggesting cuts next month of 25 percent in liftings of the main Basra Light grade, which have been running at around 2.1 mln bpd. Due to a lack of storage capacity in the south, the export cut will force a decrease in production on nearly the same scale.

Output of crude oil in 2013 has averaged 2.9 million bpd, which is even with last year output, although flows climbed to 3.25 million bpd at the start of August.

"We expect output to rise by 400,000 bpd by the end of this year due to the start up of the Royal Dutch Shell-operated Majnoon oilfield in southern Iraq and other smaller sources," Jihad said.

The government has set a production target of 3.4 million bpd for end-2013, down from an initial 3.7 million bpd. If the Majnoon and other increases are realised, Iraq will exceed the reduced target rate by the end of the year.

"Production from the Majnoon oilfield should start in October," Jihad said while the oil minister had previously said that July would the start date.

To continue its production increases, Iraq will need to start up other southern fields apart from Majnoon, such as West Qurna-2, run by Russia's Lukoil. Garraf, also in the south, and Badra - farther north - will also contribute.

(Source: Reuters)