BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq has issued a tender to foreign oil companies to drill 30 wells in three oilfields in the southern province of Maysan, the Oil Ministry said on its website on Wednesday.
The offer for the fields of Halfaya, Noor and Abu Gharab on a turn key basis closes on April 15 and the work must be completed within 18 months of the start date, the ministry said.
Foreign firms are invited to drill 10 wells in each field, the document on the ministry’s website said.
“This tender is part of an accelerated plan to raise crude production in the southern fields,” a senior engineer at the Maysan Oil Company told Reuters.
“Output is declining. We cannot stand and watch; we have to do something. This will not be the last tender,” he said.
At least one of the fields, Halfaya, is classed “super giant,” with reserves estimated at 5 billion barrels. On Sunday, the Maysan Oil Company said it had invited international firms to build a 50,000 barrel-per-day production facility on Halfaya.