Iraq awards $348 mln of drilling deals for Maysan oilfields

Iraq has awarded $347.8 million worth of drilling contracts for the Maysan oilfields in the south of the country, a government statement said on Tuesday.

Iraq awarded the contracts to three international oil service companies to drill 39 production wells in the 2.5-billion-barrel Maysan complex being developed by China’s CNOOC and state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO).

U.S. oilfield services company Weatherford was awarded two drilling contracts worth $94.98 million and $82.39 million respectively. China’s Bohai Drilling Engineering Company won a $96.66 million contract, the statement said.

COSL, a specialised oil services unit of CNOOC, was awarded a $73.82 million drilling deal. It was not clear from the statement how many wells each company would drill.

Iraq signed a deal in 2010 with China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and TPAO to develop Maysan, comprising several small oilfields, aiming to reach a production target of 450,000 barrels per day by 2016.

In desperate need of cash to rebuild its battered economy after years of war and sanctions, Iraq has struck a series of development contracts with global oil majors that could signal a bonanza for international oil service companies.

In the same statement, Iraq said it had decided to extend an oil export agreement to supply Jordan with crude for one year, without giving more details.

Jordan’s Information Minister Mohammed al-Momani told the state-run Petra news agency on Tuesday that Iraq’s cabinet had approved an offer to supply $25 million worth of crude to help meet its energy needs.

Jordan, which imports almost all of its energy and commodity needs, has suffered economically from Arab Spring uprisings in the region, which have hit tourism receipts, remittances from Jordanian workers abroad and investment inflows.

Source: Reuters

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account

Remember me Lost your password?

Don't have account. Register

Lost Password

Register