West Qurna Field

West Qurna
Location of West Qurna
Country Iraq
Offshore/onshore onshore
Coordinates 30°53′7″N 47°17′27″E / 30.88528°N 47.29083°E / 30.88528; 47.29083Coordinates: 30°53′7″N 47°17′27″E / 30.88528°N 47.29083°E / 30.88528; 47.29083
Owner Iraq National Oil Company
Service contractors Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil, Statoil
Field history
Discovery 1973
Production
Recoverable oil 43,000 million barrels (~5.9×10^9 t)

West Qurna (Arabic: غرب قرنة‎) is one of Iraq's largest oil fields, located north of Rumaila field, west of Basra. West Qurna is believed to hold 43 billion barrels (6.8×10^9 m3) of recoverable reserves.[1] The field was closed to Western firms due to years-long sanctions.[2]

Phases

West Qurna Phase I

In November 2009, an Exxon Mobil - Shell joint venture won a $50 billion contract to develop the 9-billion-barrels (1.4×10^9 m3) West Qurna Phase I.[1] As per Iraqi Oil Ministry estimates, the project will require a $25 billion investment and another $25 billion in operating fees creating approximately 100,000 jobs in the underdeveloped southern region. ExxonMobil is set to increase the current production of 0.27 to 2.25 million barrels per day (43×10^3 to 358×10^3 m3/d) within seven years. The Iraqi government, in turn, will pay $1.90 per barrel produced by ExxonMobil-Shell alliance.[3]

West Qurna Phase II

In December 2009, Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil were awarded the rights to develop the 12.88-billion-barrels (2.048×10^9 m3) West Qurna Phase II oil field. The Lukoil-Statoil alliance will receive $1.15 per barrel that they produce. In addition, they will work to raise output from West Qurna 2 to 120,000 barrels per day (19,000 m3/d) by 2012[4] and 1.8 million barrels per day (290,000 m3/d) over a period of 13 years.[5][6] In March 2012, Statoil sold its 18.75% stake in the field to Lukoil, giving the Russian firm a 75% stake, and leaving the Iraqi state oil company with 25%.[7]

Water-injection project

A new joint multibillion-dollar water-injection project will be awarded to operator ExxonMobil. The project includes construction of a plant which will help 6 major oil-field development projects by producing 10–12 million barrels (1,600,000–1,900,000 m3) of water per day. The alliance will include Shell, Eni SpA, Lukoil, CNPC and Petronas.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Christopher Helman (2010-01-21). "The World's Biggest Oil Reserves". Forbes. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  2. ↑ Gina Chon (2009-11-05). "Iraq Awards West Qurna-1 Oil Field to Exxon, Shell". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  3. ↑ Martin Chulov (2009-11-05). "ExxonMobil wins $50bn contract to develop West Qurna oilfield". Guardian. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  4. ↑ Simon Webb (2010-04-27). "Iraq's West Qurna to hit 120,000 bpd in 2012". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
  5. ↑ "Russian Oil Giant Wins Big in Iraq Auction". Fox News. 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  6. ↑ "Iraq sets West Qurna date". Upstream Online. NHST Media Group. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  7. ↑ "Iraq approves Statoil sale of oil field stake to Lukoil". af.reuters.com. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
  8. ↑ Hassan Hafidh (2010-04-19). "Exxon Spearheads Iraqi Water-Injection Project". Rigzone. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
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