Companies have been given until 15 April to bid for the contract to expand and upgrade the Subba field, located 105 kilometres southeast of Nasiriyah. The project entails the expansion of the Subba North and Subba Central degassing stations to boost oil output by 50,000 barrels a day (b/d). Crude already produced from one serviceable degassing station the field is pumped to the Luhais Central station through an existing 10-inch-diameter, 39-kilometre-long pipeline. Companies understood to have bought tender documents for the scheme include the local State Company for Heavy Industries (SCHI)and Ireland's Petrel Resources.

In addition to the main facilities, the selected contractor will install 180 kilometres of four-inch and 50 kilometres of six-inch flowlines, a 16-inch-diameter, 71-kilometre-long export line and a 16-inch-diameter 3.5-kilometre-long tie-in to the existing strategic oil pipeline.

Bids for the expansion of the Hamrin field, located near Kirkuk, have also been put back to 15 April. The project covers the installation of four degassing stations, gas lift equipment, crude dehydration and desalting units and gas stripping and compression units. The project is intended to initially produce 100,000 b/d of oil, with sustainable output of wet crude set for 60,000 b/d and 60 million cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas. Companies that have bought tender documents for the scheme include SCHI and Petrel.

The bid deadline for the expansion of the Khurmala field has been delayed until 1 April. The project, which is intended to offset declining production from the Kirkuk field, requires the installation of three degassing stations, in-field pipelines and associated electrical facilities. Once completed the field is expected to produce 100,000 b/d of crude and 100 million cf/d of associated gas. Up to eight companies have purchased the tender documents. They include the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Petrel, SCHI, Romania's Petrom Internationaland Turkey's Tekfen.

Bids for the installation of five compression stations at the Zubair field, which produces about 200,000 b/d of oil, have been extended by another month to 1 May (MEED 19:3:04; Cover Story).

The Oil Ministry is planning to hold a conference in Basra on 18-19 April to inform companies of the opportunities that exist in the sector.