Russian Oil Company Gazprom Neft will start production at its Badra oilfield in Iraq in the coming months, with production targets starting at 15,000 barrels per day (bpd), Reuters are reporting.
Gazprom Neft is targeting hydrocarbon production of 100 million tonnes of oil equivalent (2 million bpd) by 2020.
Gazprom previously postponed initial production at Badra due to safety concerns and logistical problems.
“We plan to start production (at Badra) in spring … the target of this year is to reach output of 15,000 barrels per day,” Vadim Yakovlev, a first deputy chief executive of Gazprom Neft, told Reuters.
Output at Badra has been estimated to reach 170,000 bpd of crude oil by 2017.
Recent violence in Iraq, in part a spillover from neighbouring Syria, has increased concerns about security, even while the government is hoping that this year will bring the biggest annual rise in oil exports in a decade.
The oil field is located in the Wassit Province in eastern Iraq with an estimated 3 billion barrels of oil in place. The Russian company submitted a tender in December 2009 and signed a contract with the government in January 2010 to develop the field.
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