MEOG: Major field development plans

In this week’s MEOG we look at plans for the development of two of the region’s biggest oil and gas fields – Rumaila and South Pars.

Iraqi officials last week attended a ceremony to inaugurate the new Basra Energy Company Ltd (BEC) joint venture (JV) between BP and PetroChina, which has taken over as the main contractor for the development of the super-giant Rumaila oilfield.

BEC was formed to replace the Rumaila Operating Organisation (ROO) and as part of efforts by BP to spin off its Iraqi operations into a new entity as the company shifts from direct to indirect involvement amid a reposition away from hydrocarbons.

During the ceremony, Khaled Hamza, director-general Basra Oil Co. (BOC), a subsidiary of the recently re-established Iraqi National Oil Co. (INOC), said that output from the field was currently 1.45mn bpd, representing 39% of total Iraqi production. He noted that BEC “will have a high flexibility to finance the development projects of the Rumaila field to reach peak production”. BP’s Iraq country manager and BEC representative Zaid Al-Yasiri noted that the plateau has now been set at 1.7mn bpd.

Iran’s state-owned Pars Oil and Gas Co. (POGC) said this week that it has started a new drilling campaign as it seeks to add reserves at the supergiant offshore South Pars gas field.

In an announcement carried by POGC’s website, the company’s head of oil and gas engineering, Ali Akbar Majed, said that it has started drilling an appraisal well in the northern area of the field. “This well is aimed at determining the extent of expansion of South Pars gas field in the north side of the field and evaluating the potential of uncharted areas of this section for development,” he said.

The drilling work is being carried out by Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Co. (IOEC) under POGC’s supervision.

Majed said that identifying and exploring undeveloped parts of the field are among POGC’s top priorities under its programme to maintain production levels at South Pars, and it intends to drill another three appraisal wells in the northern part of the field.