Tuesday November 3, 01:29 PM
FACTBOX-Iraqi oilfield deals in the pipeline
Nov 3 (Reuters) - British oil major BP Plc and China's CNPC (0135.HK - news) have signed Iraq's first major new oil deal since the 2003 U.S. invasion for supergiant Rumaila, and Baghdad is close to finalising pacts on several other large oilfields.
The agreements have the ability to turn Iraq into the world's number three producer after Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Here are facts on deals in the pipeline:
* RUMAILA
BP and CNPC won the contract to boost output from the Rumaila field, Iraq's largest, in June. Rumaila has reserves of nearly 17 billion barrels, which alone is more than all the oil held by OPEC member Algeria.
Rumaila is the workhorse of Iraq's oil industry, providing just over 1 million bpd of the country's 2.5 million bpd output.
BP has pledged to boost output to 2.85 million bpd.
* ZUBAIR
Eni (Milan: ENI.MI - news) , Occidental and KOGAS have won a contract to develop the Zubair oilfield. Zubair has oil reserves of 4 billion barrels. Eni has pledged to boost output there to 1.125 million bpd from 195,000 bpd.
* WEST QURNA
Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM - news) and Royal Dutch Shell (Amsterdam: RDSA.AS - news) , LUKOIL and ConocoPhillips, and two other groups led by France's Total (FP.NX - news) and CNPC are competing to develop the oilfield. West Qurna has reserves of about 8.7 billion barrels, a little less than all the oil held by OPEC member Angola.
Exxon and Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) have pledged to boost output to 2.1 million bpd from around 280,000 bpd. LUKOIL and Conoco have set their sights on 1.5 million bpd. The other targets are not known.
* KIRKUK
Iraq is seeking a revised bid from a Royal Dutch Shell-led group for Kirkuk, which is currently producing 350,000 bpd. In its initial, failed bid, Shell envisioned a plateau production of 825,000 bpd. One of Iraq's older oilfields, it has estimated reserves of 8.5 billion barrels.
The field is vulnerable to fallout from tensions between Iraq's Arab-led government in Baghdad and ethnic Kurds, who view the city and surrounding province as their ancestral home and want it included in their semi-autonomous northern enclave.
* NASSIRIYA
Iraq is close to signing an engineering, procurement and construction deal for Nassiriya with a Nippon Oil Corp-led group. The largely undeveloped field is listed as having reserves of 5 billion barrels but it could be far larger.
Nippon Oil Corp has projected pumping up to 200,000 bpd within two years, according to Iraqi officials, and Eni, which was originally in the running for the field, has said it could eventually have a capacity of 1 million bpd.
* EAST BAGHDAD
Iraq may also pursue an EPC deal for the southern part of the supergiant East Baghdad oilfield, which has 8.1 billion barrels in reserves, with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co (Japex) . Japex has projected that it could pump 400,000 bpd initially from the southern portion of the field, enough to satisfy about 10 percent of Japanese oil demand.
* THE SECOND ROUND
The 10 oilfields on offer Dec 11-12 in the second bidding round include the supergiants Majnoon with 12.6 billion barrels, and West Qurna Phase II, where there are 12.9 billion barrels in reserves. The rest of East Baghdad is also up for grabs.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry has set a total output target from the development deals of 2.14 million bpd. In its first auction, its total output target from six oilfields was exceeded by the projected plateau projection contained in just one offer -- the BP, CNPC bid for Rumaila.
((For a related story, please click on
For a related analysis, please click on
For details about the oilfields on offer in the second round,
please click on))
(Reporting by Simon Webb and Michael Christie; Editing by Jack Kimball) Keywords: OIL/IRAQ DEALS
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