The Malaysian oil company, Petronas, has restarted production at Iraq’s Gharraf oil field at a rate of 50,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) after a forced shutdown in March due to the pandemic, according to S&P Global.

It was reported that production restarted on July 21 after the Malaysian oil company dispatched personnel back to the plant. Gharraf was initially evacuated to protect its staff from the spread of the coronavirus.

This decision to resume production comes shortly after OPEC+ decides to relax record production cuts for the upcoming month of April. Global output will be cut by 7.7 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) in August as opposed to 9.7 mmbbl/d in June and July. 

Pre-pandemic, the Gharraf oil field was producing an average of 75,000 bbl/d.

The Gharraf field started production in August 2013 under a technical service contract with Iraq’s South Oil Co. The consortium consists of Petronas with a 45% stake, Japex Garraf with 30%, and North Oil Co. with 25%.