Lukoil has extended its development and production contract for Iraq's West Qurna 2 oilfield, aiming to gradually double oil output to 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), the Russian oil company said on Thursday.
Lukoil signed the agreements with representatives of Iraq's Basra Oil Company in Baghdad. The deal extends the service contract with 10 years to 2045 and provides for better conditions, the Russian oil giant said.
The agreement also entails investments into further development of the project, and "gradual doubling of the field's output with plateau level reaching 800 thousand barrels per day. This will result in an increase in the economic efficiency of the West Qurna-2 project," Lukoil said.
The plan for further development at the field will include bringing new multi-well pads into production, commissioning oil treatment facilities and complex gas treatment facilities for the Yamama formation, construction of export pipelines and water flooding units, and expansion of the tank battery.
The agreement is another step in the long-term strategic partnership between Lukoil and the Ministry of Oil of Iraq, the Russian company said. Lukoil and the oil ministry also pledged to continue cooperation in the energy sector in Iraq.
One of the world's largest fields, the West Qurna-2 oilfield, is located in the southern part of Iraq, 65 kilometers (40 miles) north-west of Basra, which hosts the primary export terminals of the crude oil shipped out of Iraq. The field's initial recoverable reserves come to around 14 billion barrels, according to Lukoil. More than 90% of the reserves are concentrated in the Mishrif and Yamama accumulations.
The Russian company was awarded the contract for the development of the oilfield in December 2009, while commercial production began in March 2014.
In 2019, Lukoil started drilling new production wells at the West Qurna-2 field as part of the second development phase.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More