Iraq Calls Russian Companies to Explore Oil in New Areas

Head of the technical department in the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, Ali Ward Hammoud, stated on Friday that Iraq is interested in the partnership with Russian oil companies, and called Russian companies to participate in exploring oil in new areas, according to Sputnik News.
Hammoud, in a statement to Sputnik, said that plans will be drawn up in the near future to develop oil fields such as Eridu oilfield and Salman oilfield to accelerate their commercial production.
“The production from the new oil wells discovered in Eridu oilfield is expected to be 200 thousand barrel per day. The Salman oilfield operated by Bashneft company is now in the evaluation stage, but there are evidences that its production capacity will be high,” Hammoud explained.
Eridu is a conventional oil development located onshore Iraq and is operated by the Russian oil company, Lukoil.
Discovered in 2017, the Eridu project will include the drilling of approximately 13 wells.
The Salman oilfield is located in the Najaf and Muthanna governorates, approximately 80 kilometers southwest of Samnawa city and about 130 kilometers west of Nasriya.
The block where Salman oilfield is located covers an area of around eight thousand square kilometers, and it is in the underexplored Salman tectonic zone.
30 percent of the development of Salman oilfield was granted to Bashneft, 40 percent to Premier Oil and 30 percent to PetroVietnam. Bashneft subsequently took over Premier Oil’s allocation to acquire 70 percent of the development.
Hammoud elaborated that the initial production from Eridu oilfield is expected to take place in 2025.
“I guess the Russian companies will have a share in the new licenses for the unexplored areas,” Hammoud said commenting on new development projects.

About Parvin Faghfouri Azar

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