South Oil Company to reach efficient levels of production in 2 years

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: The South Oil Company will not manage to increase its production levels before a minimum of two years, an oil expert from Basra said on Tuesday. The company currently produces less than 2 million barrels per day (bpd). “Oil production is fluctuating between 1,600 and 1,900 bpd. The BP and CNPC consortium’s deal to develop al-Rumaila field will increase the production before a minimum of two years,” Abduljabar al-Halfi told Iraqi News. Halfi citied maintenance work and the pipes’ inability to withstand high loads and pressure as the reasons behind the delay. The Iraqi government had approved a BP-led consortium’s offer to develop a giant oil field in the south. Under the contracts, the two companies are paid a per barrel price for production over a minimum target level. BP and CNPC had bid $3.99 per barrel, but slashed their price to the $2 per barrel payment sought by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil. The first international oil licensing round included the main fields, which provide more than 80 percent of Iraq’s total production of oil. The Shiite province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. SS (S) 1