Gazprom Neft begins well testing at Badra in Iraq
MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Gazprom Neft has begun testing the Bd4 well at the Badra field in Iraq, where it is the project operator, Gazprom Neft said in a press release.
"After completion of the first stage of experimental work, the well began gushing at a flow rate of 2000 barrels of oil per day," the press release says. Testing of the 4,850-meter deep well is scheduled for completion this summer, after which experimental work will begin on the Bd5 well, where drilling has been completed.
"The results of well tests will help us better understand the potential of the field's pay horizons and finalize the Badra field development plan," said Gazprom Neft First Deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev.
Gazprom Neft is currently building infrastructure at Badra, including construction of a central gathering facility with capacity for 170,000 barrels of oil per day. The site for construction of the gas collection and processing facility with capacity for about 1.5 billion cubic meters a year has also been prepared for construction, the press release says.
"A 165-kilometer-long oil pipeline is being laid from the Badra oil field to the Garraf pipeline tie-in point. The connection to the oil trunk pipeline system will take place near the city of Nasiriyah," it says.
Gazprom Neft plans to commence full-scale production at the field late in 2013.
Total oil in place at the Badra field amounts to 3 billion barrels, according to preliminary estimates. Gazprom Neft's share in the project is 30%. The other consortium participants are South Korean Kogas (22.5%), Malaysian Petronas (15%), and TPAO (7.5%). The Iraqi government, represented in the project by Oil Exploration Company (OEC), has 25%.
The project for development of the Badra oil field is designed to last 20 years, with a possible five-year extension. Capital investment will total an estimated $2 billion. Under the terms of the contract, the investors will be compensated for expenses incurred, and will receive payment of $5.50 for each barrel of oil equivalent produced.
By 2017, production is forecast to reach 170,000 barrels of oil per day (approximately 8.5 million tonnes per year), and stay at that level for seven years. A total of seventeen production wells and five injection wells are to be drilled at the field, according to current project plans
