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MEOG: IDC maintains momentum

In last week’s MEOG we covered the latest progress update from Iraq’s state drilling firm.

Iraqi Drilling Co. (IDC) announced that it has completed the first well of a 20-well drilling campaign at the Nasiriyah oilfield in the southern Dhi Qar Governorate.

IDC’s director-general Basem Abdul Karim said that the company’s technical and engineering staff had completed well 48 in collaboration with US services firm Weatherford on behalf of the Dhi Qar Oil Co. (DQOC), a subsidiary of the Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC).

He noted that the well was drilled using the IDC 44 rig, which is one of four units allocated to carry out the drilling programme over a period of 18 months. IDC has 43 drilling and workover rigs in operation across Iraqi oilfields.

The official said in April that the wells would be drilled to a planned depth of 2,200 metres.

Nasiriyah was shut in during February after protesters blocked workers’ access to the site. Capacity at the field is believed to stand at around 70,000 barrels per day (bpd), produced from the Mishrif formation, though production over the last two years has been hamstrung by Baghdad’s efforts to comply with OPEC+ output restrictions. The field has estimated reserves of 4bn barrels.

In a statement, DQOC closed operations for a week owing to safety concerns about its workforce amid reports of violent protests across the governorate by university graduates demanding job opportunities.

Prior to the shutdown, members of the al-Bedor tribe had staged protests at Nasiriyah’s gas isolation station at Kati’ah, demanding employment and the establishment of a new military regiment that will employ those without qualifications.