CNOOC Ltd won contract by Ministry of Oil
CNOOC won the bid to explore the block as part of Iraq's licensing round, which was a recent policy shift in which Baghdad began offering profit sharing with partners, instead of technical service contracts.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – On Wednesday, October 30th, 2024 the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Ltd, signed an Exploration, Development & Production Contract (EDPC) with Iraqi Midland Oil Company to explore for oil and gas at the Block 7 field in the Middle East nation.
CNOOC is one of the largest international oil companies in Iraq, its activities focus on Missan oilfields in Southeast Iraq. The company also maintains strict standards when selecting new investment targets outside China.
As a part of it, the CNOOC Africa Holding Ltd, the state oil and gas company's fully owned unit, will act as the operator for the 6.300 km2 Block 7, that locates in the central part of Iraq, Diwaniyah province.
According to the data, exploring Block No. 7 extends across the Diwaniyah, Babel, Najaf, Wasit and Muthanna, near the Gharraf and Nasiriyah fields.
CNOOC won the bid to explore the block as part of Iraq's licensing round, which was a recent policy shift in which Baghdad began offering profit sharing with partners, instead of technical service contracts.
Based on CNOOC announcement, the exploration start phase was not specified, but it highlighted that the contract stipulates, in the first stage, a period of for three years, time in CNOOC's favour.
According to the international and Iraqi media outlets, CNOOC's top executive referred in August 2024, that the Block 7 may lead to a major discovery.
As a part within, Sinopec won the Somar block in Iraq’s oil and gas licensing round, which extends within Muthanna Governorate and covers an area of approximately 1.773 km2. It includes the main reservoirs of Nahr Omar, Zubair, Yamama, and Najma, and there are no drilled wells exist.
By exploring the previous records, CNOOC Ltd showed the company, through owned subsidiary company, CNOOC International Ltd, together with Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi (TPAO), signed a Technical Service Contract (TSC) for the development and production of the Missan Oilfields within Iraq.
The CNOOC Iraq Limited, is a company existing under the laws of British Virgin Islands, acting as a lead contractor of the Technical Service Contract in Missan Oilfields.
The company had stated in the past regarding drilling horizontal wells in Missan oilfields which had achieved the expected production level.
The Iraqi official source from oil department stated “the company entered into and between Missan Oil Company, TP Missan Limited and Iraqi Drilling Company is pleased to make the following public tender announcement”
The contract allows CNOOC Limited to act as the lead contractor of these oilfields and owns a 63.75% participating interest.
The project entered the cost recovery period in 2012 and began to contribute to the Company's production growth.
However, in 2014, the production of Missan oilfields increased steadily and reached approximately 22,000 barrels per day.