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By John Lee.

The Missan Oil Company (MOC) has announced that new oil rigs are being installed at the Halfaya oil field to increase the number of new wells in the second stage of developing the field.

The Director General of the company said that two new rigs belonging to PetroChina have already arrived and another two will soon be available, bringing the total to 10 (in addition to two that are under repair).

According to the MOC, the field is estimated to hold about 16 billion barrels of oil and large amounts of gas.

(Source: MOC)

(Picture: PetroChina rig at Halfaya)

The Missan Oil Company (MOC) has announced that it has finished building a 1,700-metre runway in the Halfaya area.

It will be used to transport employees of companies like CNOOC and Petrochina to and from the international airport at Basra.

Mr. Ali M. Al-Bahadli, the director general of the MOC, said the runway is 30 metres wide, and can cater for airplanes carrying up to 50 passengers.

Production at Maysan is estimated to increase to one million barrels per day by 2017.

(Source: Ministry of Oil)

By John Lee.

The Missan Oil Company has finished drilling one of the new wells at the al Halfaya field.

Director General of the company, Ali Imurig Soadj, said that the BOHI company, contracted by Petrochina, completed the HF-107-K107 well at the al Mushrif reservoir.

Thirty-five wells have been drilled at Halfaya, including 8 old wells which have been repaired.

Production at the field is now about 122,000 barrels per day, of which about 105,000 bpd are exported from Basra.

(Source: Missan Oil Company)

The Chairman of PetroChina has told Reuters that his company is willing to join Exxon Mobil in the 400,000-bpd West Qurna-1 oilfield project.

Jiang Jiemin (pictured) told the news agency:

"We are willing to jointly develop the project with Exxon Mobil. Exxon Mobil welcomed our participation and the Iraqi government also supports us joining the development ... The asset value of the whole project is massive, but near-term capital spending required is not that huge."

He went on to say that the PetroChina, owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), would "thoroughly evaluate the project" and make an investment decision at an "appropriate" time.

Exxon is understood to be considering various options to resolve the difficulties caused by the company's activities in Iraqi Kurdistan, which Baghdad regards as illegal, and the Ministry of Oil may be willing to offer better terms. One option for Exxon may to to sell part of its 60 percent stake while remaining as operator.

CNPC made a play for Exxon's full stake in West Qurna-1 at the end of last year, but the U.S. company was not satisfied with the bid, according to industry sources.

(Source: Reuters)

Scottish-based Cresent is delivering the most significant contract in its 30-year history after signing a multi-million pound deal to supply health and safety training products for workers in Iraq’s giant Rumaila oilfield.

Cresent has been awarded the contract by BP Iraq, which is operating the field in a joint venture with PetroChina and the National Iraqi South Oil Company.

The contract involves all facets of Cresent’s business, including consultancy, project management, its control of work software system WorkSafe®, e-learning, and classroom-based learning. Its health and safety training products, which have been translated into Arabic and Mandarin specifically for the contract, are now being delivered to thousands of personnel on site.

The contract also involves Cresent providing train-the trainer sessions to Rumaila staff who can then go on to train others within their organisations in the state-of-the-art packages. This work is being carried out at training centres in Turkey and Jordan.

Some 750 Iraqis are also visiting Edinburgh over a nine-month period to receive training in WorkSafe® Control of Work systems developed by Cresent specifically for BP Iraq. The training packages also give Iraqi personnel an opportunity to see first-hand how a UK asset operates.

Cresent managing director Tracie Watson (pictured) says the scale of the project should not be underestimated. She adds, “We are incredibly proud of this achievement, as this contract is not focused solely on one of our products. We are delivering a contract that involves every single part of the Cresent service offering.

“Cresent has been operationally present in the Middle East for a number of years – sales of our products have been particularly strong in this region – but this is the first time that we have worked in Iraq.

By John Lee.

A member of the Energy Committee in Maysan Provincial Council has called on the Ministry of Oil to grant the province the right to take part in running the oil sector in the province, according to a report from AIN.

Ammar Nasrallah told the news agency:

"We call to apply the constitutional article No 112 which grants the oil producing provinces the right to participate in administrating the oil sector and form strategic policies ... [The] Ministry of Oil violated this article through concluding contracts with oil companies without informing the provinces.

"We have reservations concerning thse contracts being unconstitutional, among them a 20-year contract concluded with PetroChina."

Half of Missan’s production is from the Halfaya oilfield, in which PetroChina, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China’s largest energy producer, holds a 37.5 percent stake; Total and Petronas each hold a 18.75 percent stake, with Iraq’s state partner holding the remaining 25 percent.

(Source: AIN)

By John Lee.

The Missan Oil Company has announced the completion of 45 new oil wells in the province as well as the rehabilitation of a number of old wells.

The Director General of the Company, Ali M'arij, told AIN that "the Chinese company PetroChina drilled 30 new oil wells and rehabilitated six old ones in Halfaya oil field.

Additionally, Weatherford drilled 15 new oil wells, and rehabilitated several others at the Bazirgan field.

(Source: AIN)

(Photo: Weatherford rig at Bazirgan oilfield)

By John Lee.

WorleyParsons has been awarded a $90m contract extension by BP Iraq NV, and its partners PetroChina and Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), to continue providing engineering, procurement and management services to boost production from the super-giant Rumaila oilfield in Southern Iraq.

In November 2009, BP and its partners entered into a 20 year Technical Service Contract (TSC) with the South Oil Company of Iraq. Under the terms of the TSC, the BP led consortium is required to nearly triple output from the field to 2.85 million barrels of oil per day over the next 6 years.

On completion of this work, Rumaila will become the world’s second largest producing oil field, contributing approximately 10% of Middle East production, 7% of OPEC production and 3% of global production.

The contract is being executed from WorleyParsons’ offices in London, UAE and Iraq.

Commenting, WorleyParsons’ CEO Andrew Wood stated:

"We are pleased to be able to continue our involvement in the reconstruction and development of Iraq’s oil and gas infrastructure. We understand the significance of the Rumaila development to the regeneration of the Iraqi economy, and we will work closely with the partners in the Rumaila development, BP, PetroChina and SOMO to create the maximum value over the life time of the field."

(Source: WorleyParsons)

By John Lee.

The Missan Oil Company, Iraq’s third-largest state-owned oil company, plans to drill 80 new wells in the southeastern region, its director general, Ali Muarej, told Bloomberg.

The plan is to boost crude oil output from its current level of 200,000 bpd to as much as 300,000 bpd next year.

Half of Missan's production is from the Halfaya oilfield

Halfaya has reserves of 4.95 billion barrels. PetroChina, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China’s largest energy producer, holds 37.5% of the Halfaya consortium, while Total and Petronas each hold a 18.75% stake in the consortium, with Iraq’s state partner holding the remaining 25%.

(Source: Bloomberg)

By John Lee.

Iraqi authorities have warned France's Total that it must freeze its energy deal with Iraqi Kurdistan or sell its stake in the Halfaya oilfield, reports Reuters.

Faisal Abdullah, a spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani, said:

"Iraq has officially asked Total to freeze or cancel its contract with the Kurdish region and respect Iraqi law or sell its stake in Halfaya oilfield ... We have made it clear to Total they have only two choices. There is no third option."

He did not specify any deadline for Total to comply with Baghdad's request. According to a report from Bloomberg, Total declined to comment.

The Halfaya oil field has reserves of 4.95 billion barrels. PetroChina, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China’s largest energy producer, holds 37.5% of the Halfaya consortium, while Total and Petronas each hold a 18.75% stake in the consortium, with Iraq’s state partner holding the remaining 25%.

(Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg)

(Picture: Total HQ, Paris)