Estimates from Iraqi oil field released

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Estimates from Iraqi oil field released

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The state-run Korea National Oil Corporation announced the results yesterday of its first oil discovery expedition at the Bazian field in northern Iraq.

After 10 months of work drilling 3,847 meters (12,621.4 feet) into the earth from October 2009 to August this year, the KNOC estimated a maximum 970 barrels of crude oil and 3 million cubic meters of natural gas could be produced at the site every day.

The average daily production expectancy for crude oil was placed at 200 barrels per day.

The company said that the initial exploration took longer than expected because of the delicate geology of the area in Iraqi Kurdistan where the field is located.

The KNOC reported the unexpected collapse of one of its drilling holes and other complications along the way.

“Due to the complex geological structure, many factors remain for us to determine the scale of the deposits or whether they can be commercialized,” said a representative of the Korean company.

“With this one hole, it is hard to tell for sure, but the initial amount of crude oil and natural gas was smaller than in the neighboring area, so we may face the possibility of smaller than expected deposits.”

The Bazian field is located in the northeastern area of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

A KNOC-led consortium holds the rights to the project. The state-run Korean corporation owns 50.4 percent of the shares of the corporation and enjoys management rights, with the remainder owned by other Korean companies.

Exploration and drilling was scheduled to take five years, from November 2007 to November 2012, while development and production would continue for 20 years after commercial discoveries have been made.

KNOC plans to go ahead with additional drilling in the second half of 2011 and go into production in 2014 if the results are sufficient to justify commercialization.


By Jung Seung-hyun [seungjung@joongang.co.kr]
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