Chinese firm to double Iraqi oilfield's output
Iraq has signed a contract with EBS Petroleum to double the production of one of its largest oilfields, an official statement said.
EBS Petroleum, a local subsidiary of China's ZhenHua Oil, signed the deal with the Oil Ministry on Wednesday to expand output at East Baghdad Field from 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 100,000 bpd.
The company will use the advanced horizontal technique to drill six wells in the field and build four large storage tanks in the area, the Oil Ministry said in a statement.
'East Baghdad Field currently produces around 45,000-50,000 bpd…the project will lift output to nearly 100,000 bpd,' Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani said.
Early this year, Iraq announced the discovery of a new oil field in the southern East Baghdad group of fields that may add two billion bbl of medium and light crude to the country's oil reserves.
State-owned Midland Oil Co. reported the find, made in collaboration with EBS after well tests projected output of 5,000 bpd.
Officials said the discovery supports the country's plan, announced by Iraqi's Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani a year ago, to boost Iraq's recoverable oil reserves to160 billion barrels from nearly 145 billion barrels at present.
By 2028, Baghdad aims also to increase its production capacity to six million bpd from around 4.5 million bpd, including production by the Northern Kurdistan region.
Iraq is OPEC's second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, with an output of just over four million bpd.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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