Having already increased oil production to 400,000 barrels a day (b/d), Russia’s Lukoil is now planning the final stage of development at Iraq’s West Qurna phase-2 oil field.

Speaking at the CWC Basra Megaprojects conference in Istanbul on 9 October, Lukoil Middle east’s financial director Yaroslav Okulov said the company reached an agreement with the Ministry of Oil and state-owned Basra Oil Company in April for the approval of a final development plan for the field.

The plan is split into two stages.

“The first stage will aim to create sustainable production of each reservoir. This means we need to drill more wells to create water injection system to maintain pressure of reservoir and to improve and expand capacity of the oil treatment and water treatment facilities,” he explained.

The required surface facilities for Yamama and Mishrif include major elements such as: well pads, oil gathering flowlines, headers and trunklines, a central processing facility and its associated utilities and offsites, oil/gas/liquid petroleum gas export pipelines, additional storage tanks at an existing facility, power plant, water intake and supply pipelines.

While most of its production comes from the field’s Mishrif reservoir, Lukoil is also starting to develop production from the deeper Yamama reservoir, starting with a pilot scheme scheduled to take place over the next two years. While this will only produce around 30,000 b/d, it will allow Lukoil to understand the potential of the Yamama reservoir and how it can be developed.

The full development of the reservoir will produce 350,000 b/d by 2024, Okulov said.

In September, Lukoil signed a framework agreement with Canada’s SNC-Lavalin for project support services for the development. The agreement includes providing engineering, design activities and project support services for the development of the Mishrif and Yamama formations.

Lukoil also hopes to add new oil capacity to its books with appraisal work at a new discovery. The 5,600-square kilometre Block 10 exploration license is located in the southern Dhi-Qar and Muthanna governorates, about 120 kilometres west of Basra. Lukoil drilled its first exploration well, Eridu-1, in February 2017 leading to a discovery.

“Last year, Lukoil made a very promising discovery on Block 10, and we continue appraisal works. I believe that once we finish the appraisal, reserves will come to life, so it will bring additional capacity for oil production,” said Okulov.