MEOG: Iraq to expand East Baghdad output

Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdulghani last week announced plans to increase production from the East Baghdad oilfield to over 80,000 barrels per day (bpd). A statement released by the Ministry of Oil stated that Abdulghani had conducted an inspection visit to the southern part of the Nahrawan and Suwayra regions within the East Baghdad field.

The purpose of the visit was to follow up on projects aimed at increasing output and investing in gas from the field, which is one of the largest oilfields in the area. The current production rate from the field stands at 30,000 bpd, and peak production under the contract signed with Chinese operator EBS in 2018 was set to reach 40,000 bpd. However, the Ministry plans to increase output to over 80,000 bpd, and dry gas to 50mn cubic metres.

Last month, the Iraqi Drilling Co. (IDC) completed the drilling of the EBS-H-18 well to a depth of 3,509 metres, noting that it was the first of a 27-well drilling campaign targeting the field for EBS – a local Iraqi subsidiary of China ZhenHua Oil Co., Ltd., itself a subsidiary of the state-owned China North Industries Group (Norinco).

IDC is working with China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL) on the campaign. The Iraqi firm noted that operations were carried out using the IDC 36 rig.