Under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, Mr. Hayan Abdul-Ghani, Basra Oil Company, in cooperation with the operator of the West Qurna/1 field, PetroChina, inaugurated a number of service projects in Al-Sadiq district in Basra Governorate and laid the foundation stone for the West Qurna/1 field operations center project, the first phase, which is being operated by the Chinese company PetroChina.
The Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil confirmed that the West Qurna/1 field is one of the largest fields in the southern region of the country, and is characterized by a large oil reserve of more than 22 billion barrels, which qualifies it to be a major oil producer in Basra Governorate, noting that the current production of the field is 550 thousand barrels per day.
The Minister explained that the company has made great efforts to continue developing the field, sustaining production and raising its levels, in addition to providing services to the local community in the field area, which is Al-Sadiq District, through implementing a number of service projects for the district, represented by re-paving and tiling a number of streets in the district, in addition to equipping (7) schools and the Fine Arts Institute in Al-Sadiq and Al-Madinah Districts (school trips, blackboards, fixed chairs, office equipment, refrigerators and file cabinets, desks, computers (laptops), smart screens, display devices on screens, management offices, laboratory chairs (stolats), air conditioning units (split), speakers of various types, and drawing supports), in addition to providing sufficient job opportunities in the region.
The Minister stressed to PetroChina the importance of collecting and investing the associated gas produced in the field, and cooperating with companies specialized in the field of gas investment, to benefit from the large quantities of gas that can be invested, and supplying them to the national grid to supply power generation stations with fuel.
The Deputy Director General of Basra Oil Company, Jawad Al-Halfi, indicated that the Ministry, under the leadership of the Minister of Oil, has been keen to develop production in the company, and implement successful projects to develop oil fields and optimally invest in gas with national efforts, and in cooperation with foreign companies. He explained that the West Qurna 1 Field Operations Center is a qualitative addition to the facilities that help carry out and control production operations, and it is one of the new projects of its kind, indicating that the field is witnessing a significant increase in production rates, and its management, represented by Basra Oil Company and PetroChina, is keen to provide infrastructure services to the community and surrounding areas.
The Director of the Field Authority, Mr. Asaad Abboud, said, "Based on the directives of the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil, a number of projects were implemented in cooperation with PetroChina Company that contribute to improving the service level of Al-Sadiq District adjacent to the field." He pointed out that the projects included the opening of the transformer power station (33/11 K.V) in the Al-Hawsh area in the district, the "Al-Alam" Street project, which includes resurfacing and paving the street with a length of (8.6) km, placing street signs and resurfacing intersections, and the project to resurface "Antar" Street, which is located within the district near the field, and removing layers of damaged asphalt and paving it with two layers of asphalt with a length of 5.5 km.
The Director of the Authority added that the third project is the design, purchase, implementation and operation of a transformer power station (33/11 K.V), which was implemented by the West Qurna/1 Field Operating Authority according to the standards and specifications of the Ministry of Electricity, pointing out that the fourth project is laying the foundation stone for the West Qurna/1 Operations Center, Phase One.
The Assistant Director General of Basra Oil Company for Production and National Effort, Mr. Basem Mohammed Jalil, said that West Qurna 1 field is one of the large fields. Production operations from the field began in 1999 with a capacity of 50 thousand barrels, and the current production capacity has reached 550 thousand barrels.
The company has big and promising plans to increase production rates to reach the maximum production capacity in the field, noting that the goal of the operations center is to control the flow of water and the production of oil and gas from the production stations in the field. It is noteworthy that West Qurna 1 field was transferred in 2010 to the American company Exxon Mobil within the first licensing round, and the company requested to relinquish its share in the field to the Chinese company PetroChina. After many negotiations, the ministry agreed to Exxon Mobil relinquishing its share in 2023.