Oil and Gas Fields: Nahr Bin Umar

Name: Nahr Bin Umar, also known as Nahr Ben Umar, Nahr Umr, Nahran Omar.

Controlled by: Ministry of Oil (Baghdad).

Location: 15 km to the north of Basra.

Discovery: 1940s

Reserves:  6.5 billion barrels of oil, 12 bcf gas.

Size: 40 km long by 25 km wide

Developed by:  Basra Oil Company (BOC). According to the website of RASEP, part of the Baghdad-based Raban AI Safina Group of Companies: "The project is being developed by Halfaya Gas Company Ltd. (HGC), a special purpose project company owned by RASEP, pursuant to a 15 years' BOOT contract with South Gas Company (a subsidiary of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil)." It adds:

Project Phases:

    • Phase I: the construction and operation on BOOT basis of:
      • three stages raw gas gathering and compression facility
      • 150 MMSCFD gas processing facilities
      • Gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons storage tanks
      • export terminal at Um Qasr seaport
      • pipelines for gas and liquid hydrocarbons connecting the gathering facility to the gas processing facility, and the gas processing facility to the existing gas network and to the export terminal.
    • Phase II: includes:
      • the construction of an additional 150 MMSCFD gas processing facility
      • the construction of an additional raw gas gathering and compression facility
      • the upstream development of the Bin Omar oilfield to increase the production

In October 2023, Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani, unveiled the draft of an investment project for the field on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, saying it has a capacity of 300 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMCF). The plan is to be executed in two phases, with 150 MMCF dedicated to raw gas and 150 MMCF for sour gas. Additionally, it will produce significant quantities of liquid gas and condensates.

For latest news on the project please click here.

A full list of oil and gas fields controlled by the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad can be found here.