Economy

KRG: Production at Kurdistan Region oil fields ‘exceeding expectations’

The Ministry of Natural Resources said it predicted further production increases during 2019 to “aid the economic revival and sustainability of the Kurdistan Region.”

Kurdistan 24 2018/11/04 15:08

kurdistan Kurdistan KRG Oil Tawke Peshkabir

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Crude oil production is on the rise at fields in the Duhok province area with results exceeding expectations, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Natural Resources said in a statement on Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has expressed its satisfaction with the work of the Tawke Production Sharing Contract (PCS) workers in the Peshkabir area, located northwest of Duhok.

“Production [at Peshkabir] has risen to over 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) within 18 months, exceeding expectations,” the MNR statement read.

The Ministry also noted that “the recent boost in production at the Peshkabir area has more than compensated for the natural decline of the main Tawke field area.” Crude production at Tawke is now down to about 80,000 bpd compared to 109,000 bpd in July 2017, the statement said.

The current average of production under the Tawke PSC License, however, has increased to 130,000 bpd compared to 114,000 bpd in July 2017, the MNR added.

It also announced the recent completion of a pipeline upgrade to its export pipeline “by installing another pumping station at Shaikhan, which boosts [the] capacity of the pipeline from 700,000 bpd to one million bpd.”

“This extra capacity will accommodate future production growth from KRG producing fields, and can also be used by the federal government to export the currently stranded oil in Kirkuk and surrounding areas.”

The Kurdistan Region is rich in natural resources, primary among them oil and gas. Currently, the government of the semi-autonomous region exports over 400,000 bpd to the Ceyhan port in Turkey.

The new pipeline was built to replace an old one owned by the Iraqi government which Islamic State militants damaged. The upgraded one is used to export oil from Kirkuk to Turkey.

The Ministry’s statement said it predicted further production increases during 2019 to “aid the economic revival and sustainability of the Kurdistan Region.”