Halliburton wins West Qurna-1 drilling contract

12 April 2011

Second deal for US firm at Iraqi field developed by US’ ExxonMobil

US oil major ExxonMobil has awarded oil field services firm Halliburton a second contract at the West Qurna-1 oil field, located in the south of Iraq.

The US firm will provide drilling services for 15 wells at the field, along with a range of well construction services utilising three drilling rigs. The value of the contract has not been disclosed.

In October, ExxonMobil awarded Halliburton a contract to provide integrated services for the refurbishment of wells, along with on-site logistics and technical support, as well as the provision of a workover rig and well testing (MEED 17:10:10).

ExxonMobil led a consortium with the UK/Dutch Shell Group that finalised a deal in January 2010 to take on the first-phase development of the 8.7 billion barrel West Qurna-1 oil field. Under the terms of the 20-year deal, the consortium must boost production at the southern part of the field from current levels of about 280,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 2.33 million b/d and will receive $1.90 for every barrel of oil it produces over an agreed minimum production level.

Iraq will be the major revenue driver for major oil-field services companies in 2011. With a decrease in production activity in the Middle East, oil field services companies were forced to reduce their prices in 2009 and 2010, but they now expect prices in 2011 to resume to pre-global crisis levels. Increased activity in key areas, such as Iraq, is also expected to tighten supply and, in turn, increase prices for technology and services.

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