Russia's Gazprom Neft plans to hold a series of tenders for oil servicing companies for the development of the Badra oilfield in eastern Iraq, the head of Gazprom Neft Middle East Projects said on Monday.
"Our plan is to begin a seismic survey in Badra in the fourth quarter of this year," Alexander Kolomatsky told the Dow Jones agency.
In June, Gazprom Neft said that an international consortium to develop the oilfield in Badra had reached an agreement on the schedule and stages of development.
The consortium, which consists of Gazprom Neft with 30%, South Korea's Kogas with 22.5%, Malaysian Petronas with 15%, Turkish TRAO with 7%, and Iraqi geological exploration company OEC with 25%, won the tender to develop the field. The contract with the Iraqi government was signed on January 28, 2010.
Work on the oilfield is set to begin in 2010. Under the contract, Gazprom Neft will receive $5.5 per every extracted barrel of oil, or an oil equivalent after the initial production level of 15,000 barrels a day. The consortium plans to reach that volume by the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013, and get to the shelf production by 2016.
The Badra oilfield is located in the Wasit Governorate neighboring the Iranian Azar oilfield, which Gazprom Neft also plans to develop along with the Iranian company NIOC.
Preliminary reports suggest that the Badra deposits could equal more than two billion barrels of oil. The project is expected to last 20 years, with a possible five-year extension. The expected level of oil shelf production is 170 barrels per day. The total number of investments in the project is $2 billion.
MOSCOW, July 19 ( RIA Novosti)
