Russia's second-biggest oil producer, Lukoil, has signed a development plan for the West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq with local Basra Oil Company, targeting to double oil production from the field to 800,000 bpd by 2025, the Russian firm said on Friday.
Lukoil holds a 75 percent interest in West Qurna-2, Iraq's state-run North Oil Company has 25 percent, while state Basra Oil Company helps manage the distribution of the compensation and revenues.
First commercial oil at West Qurna-2 was pumped at the end of March 2014. Current production at the field is 400,000 bpd, or 9 percent of Iraq's total oil production, according to Lukoil.
The boost in production will come in stages, according to the project partners' plan. In 2020, oil production at West Qurna-2 is expected to reach 480,000 bpd. The production plateau of 800,000 bpd is planned to be achieved in 2025.
"These indicators will be achieved as a result of drilling and commissioning of new production and injection wells, construction and launching of oil treatment, storage and transportation facilities and facilities for gas treatment and power generation," Lukoil said in a statement.
Lukoil will continue to be one of the largest investors in Iraq's oil in the coming years, the Russian company noted.
The West Qurna-2 oil field lies in southern Iraq, north-west of Basra, a major oil export city. According to Lukoil, the field's recoverable reserves are around 14 billion barrels, with more than 90 percent of reserves concentrated in the Mishrif and Yamama accumulations.
Iraq has recently approved an increase in its crude oil production capacity to as much as 6.5 million bpd by 2022. This compares to a current production capacity of below 5 million barrels and production rates-as reported by the local energy ministry-of around 4.4 million bpd as per its OPEC quota.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More