| West Qurna | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Iraq |
| Offshore/onshore | onshore |
| Coordinates | |
| Owner | Iraq National Oil Company |
| Service contractor(s) | Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Lukoil, Statoil |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1973 |
| Production | |
| Recoverable oil | 43,000 million barrels (~5.9×109 t) |
West Qurna (Arabic: غرب قرنة) is one of Iraq's largest oil fields, located north of Rumaila field, west of Basra. West Qurna is believed to hold 43 billion barrels (6.8×109 m3) of recoverable reserves, making it the second largest field in the world after Saudi Arabia's Ghawar oil field.[1] The field was closed to Western firms due to years-long sanctions.[2]
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In November 2009, an Exxon Mobil - Shell joint venture won a $50 billion contract to develop the 9-billion-barrel (1.4×109 m3) West Qurna Phase I.[1] As per Iraqi Oil Ministry estimates, the project will require a $25 billion investment and another $25 billion in operating fees creating approximately 100,000 jobs in underdeveloped southern region. ExxonMobil is set to increase the current production of 0.27 to 2.25 million barrels per day (43×103 to 358×103 m3/d) within seven years. The Iraqi government, in turn, will pay $1.90 per barrel produced by ExxonMobil-Shell alliance.[3]
In December 2009, Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil were awarded the rights to develop the 12.88-billion-barrel (2.048×109 m3) West Qurna Phase II oil field. The Lukoil-Statoil alliance will receive $1.15 per barrel that they produce. In addition, they will work to raise output from West Qurna 2 to 120,000 barrels per day (19,000 m3/d) by 2012[4] and 1.8 million barrels per day (290,000 m3/d) over a period of 13 years.[5][6]
A new joint milti-billion dollar water-injection project will be awarded to operator ExxonMobil. The project includes construction of a plant which will help 6 major oil-field development projects by producing 10–12 million barrels (1,600,000–1,900,000 m3) of water per day. The alliance will include Shell, Eni SpA, Lukoil, CNPC and Petronas.[7]