Iraq’s oil ministry has announced that it drilling will begin in the southern Gharraf oil fields by the end of this year, according to weekend reports from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
DPA quoted officials who said initial production levels of 50,000 barrels per day from eight oil wells are expected.
Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) and Malaysia’s PetroNas have committed to investing around US$7 billion to develop the Garraf oil field. Japex will invest about $2.8 billion, with PetroNas stumping up the rest.
The Garraf oil field, located in Dhi Qar governorate in southern Iraq, holds around one billion barrels proven reserves of crude oil. The field was discovered in 1984, but has never been developed. It is situated 5 kilometres northwest of Al-Refaei city, 9 kilometres southeast of Qal’at Suker city, and 85 kilometres north of Nasiriyah.
As part of their winning bid the companies pledged to boost production from Garraf to 230,000 barrels a day in 2016 and accepted $1.49 for each barrel produced.
Petronas holds 45% stake in the venture, Japex owns 30%, while the remaining 25% sake is owned by Iraq’s state oil company. The consortium won the bid and signed the contracts for the fields in late 2009.
The deal envisages 20 oil wells with an estimated daily output of 230,000 barrels over 20 years.
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