West Qurna (Arabic: غرب قرنة) is one of Iraq's largest oil fields, located north of Rumaila field, 65 km northwest of Basra. West Qurna is believed to hold 43 billion barrels (6.8×10^9 m3) of recoverable reserves – making it one of the biggest oil fields in the world.[1] Until 2009, the field was closed to Western firms.[2]
Phases
West Qurna Phase I
In November 2009, an ExxonMobil - Shell joint venture won a $50 billion contract to develop the 9-billion-barrels (1.4×10^9 m3) West Qurna Phase I.[1] As per Iraqi Oil Ministry estimates, the project will require a $25 billion investment and another $25 billion in operating fees creating approximately 100,000 jobs in the underdeveloped southern region. ExxonMobil is set to increase the current production of 0.27 to 2.25 million barrels per day (43×10^3 to 358×10^3 m3/d) within seven years. The Iraqi government, in turn, will pay $1.90 per barrel produced by ExxonMobil-Shell alliance.[3] In November 2023, PetroChina took over as main operator of West Qurna 1, replacing ExxonMobil.[4]
West Qurna Phase II
In December 2009, Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil were awarded the rights to develop the 12.88-billion-barrels (2.048×10^9 m3) West Qurna Phase II oil field. The Lukoil-Statoil alliance will receive $1.15 per barrel that they produce. In addition, they will work to raise output from West Qurna 2 to 120,000 barrels per day (19,000 m3/d) by 2012[5] and 1.8 million barrels per day (290,000 m3/d) over a period of 13 years.[6][7] In March 2012, Statoil sold its 18.75% stake in the field to Lukoil, giving the Russian firm a 75% stake, and leaving the Iraqi state oil company with 25%.[8]
In 2023 Lukoil announced it is planning to double the production of oil from the West Qurna Field 2, to 800,000 bpd.[9]
Water-injection project
A new joint multibillion-dollar water-injection project will be awarded to operator ExxonMobil. The project includes construction of a plant which will help 6 major oil-field development projects by producing 10–12 million barrels (1,600,000–1,900,000 m3) of water per day. The alliance will include Shell, Eni, Lukoil, CNPC and Petronas.[10]
