Iraq’s largest oilfield Rumaila reaches 1.5 million bpd in production

The oilfield produces a majority of Iraq’s total crude output and is estimated to have reserves of about 17 million barrels.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s largest oilfield in Rumaila has reached a substantial increase in crude production to 1.5 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), a project manager at one of the site’s developers said on Monday.

The previous production at the Rumaila oilfield was 1.45 million bpd but after the installation of new crude facilities, the drilling of new wells, and water injection operations the field experienced a boost, Nick White, a project manager at BP in Iraq, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

According to White, water injection is crucial to developing southern fields in Iraq as it pushes oil to the surface. He also noted that drilling is required.

“We have eight drilling rigs at the moment and 11 workover rigs,” he stated.

The Rumaila oilfield, located in the southern Iraqi province of Basra, was developed by Britain’s Beyond Petroleum (BP) and its Chinese partner China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

The oilfield produces a majority of Iraq’s total crude output and is estimated to have reserves of about 17 million barrels.

White said BP wants to hit production levels of 2.1 million bpd and plans to install four new production facilities south of the field and others in the north.

Iraq is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) second-largest producer just after Saudi Arabia and currently has an output below its maximum capacity of nearly five million bpd.

In early January, Baghdad reaffirmed its commitment to cut annual oil production as per an agreement between OPEC and additional non-member states such as Russia – known together as OPEC+ – to curtail global supply and bolster prices.