News

As a member of  the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, headed by the President of the country Hassan Rouhani, who paid an official visit to Moscow, March, 27-28, Minister of Oil of Iran Bijan Namdar Zangeneh held a meeting with the President of LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov.

The parties discussed potential involvement of the company in projects in Iran and other important issues, related to the development of global oil market.

"We are interested to develop business in Iran and are now investigating several potential projects. We hope that passing the Oil Law will encourage investment inflow into the oil sector", – Vagit Alekperov noted following the meeting.

LUKOIL has applied innovative technologies for examination of core samples of the West Qurna-2 field.

The company performed capillarimetric survey in oil-water reservoir conditions paired with mercury porosimetry for the first time.

LUKOIL will use the results of the experiment to elaborate on reservoir porosity and permeability, develop a more accurate reservoir model of the Mishrif formation, and thus secure better efficiency of its development. According to the plan, the scope of surveys of the Iraqi field will be completed in Quarter 3 of 2017.

Since its launch in March 2014, cumulative production of Iraq’s West Qurna-2 field, operated by PJSC LUKOIL, exceeded 30 million tonnes of oil.

On December 24, 2015 LUKOIL achieved its annual production target for the West Qurna-2 field in full: 20 million tonnes of oil were produced since the beginning of the year. As of today, the field production capacity totals 450,000 barrels (approximately 66,000 tonnes) of oil per day.

West Qurna-2 – one of the largest oilfields in the world – is located in Southern Iraq, 65 kilometers from the town of Basrah. The project development stakeholders are the South Oil Company of Iraq’s Ministry of Oil (on behalf of the state) and a consortium of contractors comprising LUKOIL (75%) and the Iraqi state-owned North Oil Company (25%).

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi visited the West Qurna-2 oilfield, which is being developed by PJSC LUKOIL as operator.

Al-Abadi held a meeting with LUKOIL’s management, learned about West Qurna-2 project’s development and visited key production sites, including the central processing facility and gas turbine power plant.

Operations at West Qurna-2 are continuing according to plan and oil production currently stands at 450 thousand barrels daily.

West Qurna-2 is located in southern Iraq, 65 kilometers from the town of Basra. The current participants of the project are the South Oil Company of the Ministry of Oil of Iraq (on behalf of the state) and a consortium of contractors comprising LUKOIL (75%) and the Iraqi North Oil Company (25%).

LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov took part in a meeting between the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, and Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian President's Special Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The latter conveyed the RF President’s invitation to the Iraqi leader to pay an official visit to Moscow.

The letter of invitation says, specifically, “I would like to express my gratitude for your personal concern about the activities of the Russian oil business. I am convinced that the profound experience of our oilmen and the cutting-edge technologies they use will further contribute to the development of your country’s energy potential”.

The meeting focused on issues related to the activities of Russian companies operating in Iraq and on the implementation of the West Qurna-2 field-development project – as well issues related to various new initiatiaves. Messrs. Bogdanov and Alekperov also assured the Iraqi prime minister that the Russian business was interested in still better cooperation with Iraq and in broader investments in the country’s economy.

Two tankers, chartered by LITASCO (an international marketing subsidiary of OAO LUKOIL), are being loaded in the port of Basra in Southern Iraq. Each of the ships will transport 2 million barrels of compensation oil as part of the West Qurna-2 project.

LUKOIL receives the oil under the terms of the Service Contract in reimbursement of the costs incurred by it at the first stage (Early Oil) of the West Qurna-2 project in Iraq.

In the days to come, one of the tankers (Achilleas) will be bound for the port of Augusta, Sicily, from where the oil will be delivered to LUKOIL’s ISAB refinery in Priolo. The second tanker (Front Kathrine) will transport the oil to EU consumers.

Sea Triumph, the tanker that departed from the port of Basra on August 19, successfully delivered the first batch of the compensation oil in the amount of one million barrels to the Italian port of Augusta on September 1. The majority of the first batch is routed to the ISAB refinery.

The current output at West Qurna-2 field exceeds 300,000 barrels per day.