Cursor International executes projects and collaboration activities across several industries.
By John Lee.
According to a report from Reuters, employees from Exxon Mobil will start returning to work at the West Qurna 1 oilfield on Sunday.
Sources told the news agency that the company had received assurances from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Basra Oil Company (BOC) that its staff would receive extra security.
Earlier in the month, the company evacuated about 30 foreign engineers from Basra as a “temporary precautionary measure”.
(Source: Reuters)
By John Lee.
At its regular meeting in Baghdad on Tuesday, the Iraqi Cabinet received a briefing on negotiations led by Iraq’s Ministry of Oil with ExxonMobil and PetroChina on the Southern Iraq Integrated Project.
In a statement, the government describes the project as “a mega energy and infrastructure scheme consisting of building oil pipelines, storage facilities and a seawater supply project to inject water from the Gulf into reservoirs to increase oil production and Iraq’s export capacity.”
According to Reuters, Iraq is close to signing the $53-billion, 30-year agreement, from which it expects to make $400 billion over the life of the project.
It quotes the Prime Minister as saying that it will involve increasing production at the Nahr Bin Umar and Artawi oilfields from around 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) now to 500,000 bpd.
(Sources: Iraqi Cabinet, Reuters)
By John Lee.
ExxonMobil Iraq Limited has awarded Schlumberger a 42-month IDS contract for 30 wells in the West Qurna Field.
The contract includes the provision of drilling rigs and multiple technologies and services, and the first well was spud in July.
The announcement was made in the company’s Third-Quarter 2018 Results on Friday.
(Source: Schlumberger)
By John Lee.
Italy’s Saipem has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Iraq Limited for the DS6 project for the debottlenecking of the West Qurna field, in the south east of Iraq.
Debottlenecking is a process that optimises a plant in order to increase its overall capacity.
The works will have a duration of 23 months and will mainly be executed in the Rumaila fabrication yard, owned by Saipem.
(Source: Saipem)
(Picture: Saipem chief executive, Stefano Cao)
By John Lee.
Talks between ExxonMobil and Iraq on the multi-billion-dollar Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) have reportedly broken down.
According to Reuters, the director general of the Basra Oil Company (BOC) told reporters that the BOC will award the contract through a tender process, which it expects to complete at the end of July.
It adds that the BOC has already shortlisted three companies from an initial list of seven for the contract.
(Source: Reuters)
By John Lee.
Talks between ExxonMobil and Iraq on the multi-billion-dollar Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) have reportedly reached an impasse.
According to Reuters, two sides differ on contract terms and costs.
Ian Thom, principal analyst at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, told the news agency:
“The CSSP would be expensive and challenging but there’s opportunity here (for Exxon) … to get access to resources on a very large scale and to achieve something and really make a difference to its own business.”
(Source: Reuters)
By John Lee.
The Basra Oil Company (BOC) is reportedly preparing to tender for a water injection project in Iraq if talks with ExxonMobil and PetroChina fail.
Reuters quotes the head of the Oil Ministry’s Petroleum Contracts and Licensing Directorate (PCLD), Abdul Mahdi al-Ameedi, as telling reporters at the CWC Iraq Petroleum Conference in Berlin, “we cannot wait for a longer time unless Exxon Mobil accepts the deal for the benefit of the two parties.”
He added that the delay in negotiations was partly related to initial production rates from the Nahr Bin Umar and Artawi oilfields.
(Source: Reuters )
DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced an agreement with ExxonMobil to join the Baeshiqa [Bashiqa, Bashika] license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
DNO will assume operatorship of the license with a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, acquiring one-half of ExxonMobil’s position.
ExxonMobil retains a 40 percent paying (32 percent net) interest, the Turkish Energy Company (TEC) its 20 percent paying (16 percent net) interest and the Kurdistan Regional Government its 20 percent carried interest.
Pending Government approval, DNO will drill an exploration well in the first half of 2018 with a second exploration well to follow on a separate structure.
The 324 square kilometer license is situated 60 kilometers west of Erbil and 20 kilometers east of Mosul. ExxonMobil had previously conducted extensive geological and geophysical studies and constructed a drilling pad before work was interrupted due to security conditions in the region.
The Baeshiqa license contains two large, undrilled structures which are expected to have multiple independent stacked target reservoir systems, including in the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic.
DNO currently operates two other licenses in Kurdistan: one contains the Tawke and Peshkabir fields which together produce over 110,000 barrels of oil per day and the other the Benenan and Bastora heavy oil fields which are undergoing further appraisal and development. With three rigs currently deployed, the Company is the most active driller among the international operators in Kurdistan.
Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani (pictured), DNO’s Executive Chairman, said:
“We are pleased to partner with ExxonMobil, TEC and the Government on this exciting exploration opportunity.
“We bring to the project a 10-year record of successful and fast-track operations in Kurdistan, culminating in more than 200 million barrels produced to date.
“Following regularization of export payments and a landmark agreement with the Government to close out our historical receivables, our foot is back firmly on the accelerator.”
(Source: DNO)