Lukoil Overseas, the Dubai based international upstream division of the Russian Lukoil Group said that none of its projects were affected due to the recent drop in oil prices and has announced a record oil production for the year 2014.

In a statement, the company said its total oil production in 2014 reached 9.6 million tonnes, 2.4 times the level of 2013 due to the start of the West Qurna-2 field in Iraq. The gas production was 6.8 bcm.

“This boosted the share of Lukoil Overseas in Lukoil’s total oil production from 4.4% in 2013 to 10% in 2014, and its share in total hydrocarbon production from 9.5% to 13.3%,” the company said.

A spokesperson for the company said that the recent slide in oil prices has not affected their projects.

“We didn’t abandon any projects due to fall in oil prices,” said Fedor Klimkin, press and communication officer of Lukoil Overseas speaking to Gulf News.

He however said that they received a letter from Iraqi authorities to find ways to reduce the cost of West Qurna-2 field without influencing the time schedule and implementation of the project.

“The letter is under consideration at the moment and everything is on schedule,” he said.

Klimkin said the precarious security situation in Iraq has not impacted their operations as most of their projects are located in the Southern part of Iraq.

West Qurna-2, one of the largest oilfields in the world is located in Southern Iraq, 65 kilometres from the town of Basra. The field has 13 billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves in two main formations — Mishrif and Yamama. The company has invested more than $4 billion (Dh14.7 billion) in the oilfield.

The development and production service contract for the West Qurna-2 field was signed on January 31, 2010.

The stakeholders are the South Oil company of the Ministry of Oil of Iraq and consortium of contractors including Lukoil and Iraqi North Oil Company.

Oil prices have been falling due to record US shale production and weak demand. Prices fell about 60% since last June. Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) kept the oil production unchanged at a crucial meeting in Vienna last year.

Opec countries led by Saudi Arabia are pressing non-Opec countries mainly Russia to cut production to prop up the prices. Another meeting of Opec is scheduled to be held in June.

On the other hand, the implementation of major gas projects in Uzbekistan by Lukoil is on track, the company said.

A booster compressor station was started in November at the Khauzak-Shady field, allowing for a 20% increase in production, according to the company. The Early Gas Kandym large capital project entered an active phase; work was underway on design documentation development, equipment fabrication and delivery, as well as early construction under the Gissar Full Development project.

The annual production at the fields in Uzbekistan totalled 4 bcm of gas and over 100,000 tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons.

Lukoil Overseas shifted its base to Dubai from Moscow in late 2013 because the city is near to their upstream projects located in the Middle East and Central Asia.

About 800 people work in Dubai office located in Dubai Media city and the company is implementing around 30 upstream projects in more than a dozen countries worldwide.

On Tuesday, Lukoil announced it had closed a deal to develop the Etinde offshore block in the Gulf of Guinea off Cameroon.

Source: Gulf News