Exxon Ups Oil Target for Iraq's West Qurna Phase 1

by Rania El Gamal and Aref Mohammed, Reuters, Basra, November 28, 2010 Sun 12:22 PM EST

U.S. major ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and its partners raised their production plateau target from Iraq's West Qurna oilfield to 2.825 million barrels per day after adding new reserves to the area covered by their original development contract, an Iraqi oil official said on Sunday.

The original plateau target when the contract was signed in January was 2.325 million bpd in six to seven years time, but the Exxon-led consortium agreed with Iraq to add four undeveloped reservoirs, Madhi Swadi, a member of the joint management committee that runs the field, told Reuters. ...

Under a rehabilitation plan for the field, the consortium plans to boost output from the giant field to around 750,000 bpd in three years from between 230,000 to 240,000 bpd now, by drilling new wells, overhauling existing wells and a series of water injection projects, Swadi said.

ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) won the contract to develop the 8.7-billion-barrel West Qurna Phase One field in an auction held by Iraq last year for oilfield development contracts. [See David Rachovich, Iraq's Oil Sector: Present, Past and Future, p. 41]

During the early months of next year, Exxon and its partners plan to start a water injection project to help boost the output rate and help overcome production decline in the field, which started production in the late 1990s. More