The BP-led consortium developing the super-giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq has had to cut production by 200,000 b/d to 1.2mn b/d in recent weeks because of high water cut in some of the northern reservoirs. However, the decline has been offset by a significant increase in output from West Qurna-2, where output at the field being developed by a consortium led by Lukoil this week surged above 200,000 b/d, MEES understands.
Operator BP (37%) and consortium partner Petrochina (36%) have invested $6bn to further develop Rumaila since 2010, when a 20-year Technical Service Contract for further development of the field came into effect, one year after it was awarded in Iraq’s first post-war upstream auction. BP and Petrochina’s parent company CNPC secured the rights to develop the most prolific of the country’s producing fields, by offering to raise production to a 2.85mn b/d plateau by 2017 for a per barrel fee of $2, and maintain the plateau production target for seven years. (CONTINUED - 1968 WORDS)
