Mesopotamia Petroleum Company (MPC), established by the UK’s Midmar Energy to exploit oil and gas opportunities in Iraq, will set-up a joint venture company with Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) – its first in Iraq since 2003.
The new joint venture with the Iraqi state-owned drilling company, which will be known as the Iraqi Oil Services Company (IOSCO), was created in order to drill a “large number” of new wells in Iraq, and thus “significantly increase oil and gas production”.
It is the first joint venture of its kind between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and a foreign oil company since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.
“The signature of the agreement between MPC and its Iraqi partners, IOSCO, successfully demonstrates our stated objective of expanding our interests internationally. Our strategy in forming MPC was to focus on oil and gas opportunities, allowing us to apply our expertise to this area, an objective that will be fulfilled through this historic agreement,” said Dr Thomas Redman, managing director of Midmar.
IOSCO’s objective is to facilitate the Ministry of Oil’s stated target of boosting hydrocarbon production by approximately 50% to 3 million bpd, and 4 million bpd within the next four years. The company will purchase and operate 12 drilling rigs in Iraq and secure drilling programmes throughout the country.
As part of the joint venture, MPC will supply IOSCO with integrated drilling and completion methods and technologies in order to boost hydrocarbon recovery
“I welcome the signing of this joint venture… the first such joint venture between a UK company and the [Iraqi] Ministry of Oil. This is an important signal of the long-term commitment the UK has to Iraq in terms of trade, commerce and economic co-operation. It is also an important message to British business that Iraq is open for business,” said the UK Foreign Secretary, David Miliband.
Iraq’s Oil Minister, His Excellency Dr Hussein Al Shahristani, was also delighted with news of the joint venture’s inception.
“I am very pleased and look forward to seeing the joint venture company actively working on the ground in the very near future. This new company can play a significant role in increasing Iraq’s oil production by drilling wells that are needed to develop Iraq’s oil,” he said.
