Rumaila Field
Encyclopedia
The Rumaila oil field is a giant oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...

 located in southern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, approximately 20 mi (32.2 km) from the Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

i border. The dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over allegedly slant-drilling
Directional drilling
Directional drilling is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down into three main groups: Oilfield Directional Drilling, Utility Installation Directional Drilling Directional drilling (or slant drilling) is the practice of drilling non-vertical wells. It can be broken down...

 in the field was one of reasons for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

. This field was discovered by British Petroleum (BP) in 1953. Under Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

, it was nationalized by Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. Since then, this massive oil field remains under Iraqi control. Rumaila is considered the fourth largest field in the world.

The field is estimated to contain some 15% of Iraq's oil reserves.

Ownership

The field is owned by Iraq and subcontracted to BP and CNPC under Iraq Producing Field Technical Service Contract (PFTSC). BP is an operator of the project with 38% while CNPC and SOMO
SOMO
State Oil Marketing Organization is an Iraqi National Company responsible for marketing Iraq's oil. It is headquartered in Baghdad, Iraq....

 hold 37% and 25%, respectively. BP and CNPC will recover a renumerated fee of $2 per barrel in profits which will account to 15 to 20% rate of return on investment. Iraqi government and BP agreed to cut the initial bidding price per barrel from $3.99 to $2.00 in June 2009. ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil
Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...

 which also bid on servicing this field at a price $4.80 walked away due to price cutting terms by the Iraqi Government leaving BP and CNPC as winners of the contract. BP expects the costs will begin to be recovered after the production will be raised by 10% from the current output. The rehabilitation and expansion project will be managed by Rumaila Field Operating Organization
Rumaila Field Operating Organization
Rumaila Field Operating Organization is an international petroleum company based in Iraq.-Overview:Rumaila Field Operating Organization is founded by BP, CNPC and State Oil Marketing Organization to manage the 20 year rehabilitation and expansion of Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq...

 (ROO) which will be staffed mainly from TEKFEN
Tekfen Construction and Installation Co.Inc.
Tekfen is a Turkish conglomerate based in Istanbul. Tekfen has many subsidiaries engaged in a diverse range of construction activities including power generation, airports, petroleum, and roadways...

 and smaller number of experts from BP and CNPC.

An estimated $15 billion will be spent on enhancing the operations at Rumaila over the next 20 years.

Production

As of June 2010, the field produces 960000 oilbbl/d making up 40% of Iraq's oil production of 2.4 Moilbbl/d. Currently ~200 production wells are operating at Rumaila. BP and CNPC intend to raise the production to 2.85 Moilbbl/d within the next six years. Once this production milestone is reached, Rumaila will become the second largest oil field in the world after the Saudi Arabian Ghawar oil field
Ghawar Field
Ghawar is an oil field in Saudi Arabia. It is located in Al-Ahssa, Saudi Arabia. Measuring , it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world. The field is entirely owned and operated by Saudi Aramco, the nationalized Saudi oil company...

.

Drilling contracts
In early 2010, BP subcontracted deals valued at around $500 million to Weatherford International
Weatherford International
Weatherford International Oil Field Services Ltd is one of the largest international oil and natural gas service companies. The company provides products and services for drilling, evaluation, completion, production and intervention of oil and natural gas wells, along with pipeline construction...

, consortium of Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...

and Iraqi Drilling Co, and Daqing Oilfield Company Limited from China to drill 49 new wells at Rumaila. Weatherford is going to drill seven wells while partnership of Schlumberger and Iraqi Drilling Co, and Daqing Oil Field Co will drill 21 wells each.

In February 2011, Conceptual Design, Front End Engineering Design (FEED), Minimum Work Obligations and Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT) services contract was awarded to WorleyParsons

Reservoir

Rumaila reportedly holds an estimated 17 Goilbbl of oil. The oil sits approximately 2400 m (7,874 ft) below the surface which is considered an easy target for production.

Importance in Gulf War

Rumalia oil field was critical in the Gulf War. Iraq, after accusing Kuwait of side-drilling launched an attack on Kuwait soils that were allegedly drilling under Iraqi soil.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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