• The plant will be powered by gas from the field’s hydrocarbon reserves
• Early construction work began on site to develop the plant’s foundations on 22 September 2015
• Five gas turbines are being supplied for the plant by General Electric

UK-based oil and gas company BP has said its $425m power plant at the Rumaila oilfield will become operational in 2017.

Powered by gas captured from the field’s hydrocarbon reserves, the plant will feed power into the electrical grid as well as supplying electricity to help to support drilling activities and the production of oil from the field’s reserves.

On 22 September 2015, early construction work began on site to develop the plant’s foundations.

Five gas turbines are being supplied for the plant by the US-based multinational General Electric. The turbines are being fabricated at the company’s plant in Italy.

BP expects the plant to generate up to 235MW per day at peak efficiency during the colder winter months and a minimum of 150MW in the summer, when the high temperatures affect the efficiency of the gas turbines.

The Rumaila oil field is Iraq’s largest source of state revenue and has increased production over the past five years to 1.35 million barrels of oil a day b/d.

The super-giant oilfield employs over 7,000 largely Iraqi personnel working in over 30 facilities over 1,600km², with 22,000 people involved in the wider supply-chain.

The Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO) is operator of the field.

It is a joint venture formed in June 2010 between SOC, BP, PetroChina and the State Oil Marketing Organization (Somo).