Gazprom Neft hails oil success in Iraq

Russian oil company Gazprom Neft said a third well now in service at the Badra oil field in Iraq ensures a production level of at least 15,000 barrels per day.

The Russian company said it brought its third well into production under the terms of a contract concluded previously with its Chinese counterparts at Zhongman Petroleum and Natural Gas Group.

The company, the oil arm of Russian gas company Gazprom, brought Badra online in late 2013 and testing of new pipeline infrastructure to the export terminal at Basra began in May. The Russian company said the terms of its Iraqi contract call for the eventual production of 170,000 bpd.

The Russian company said investors in November reached agreements with the Iraqi government that reinforces a share of production from the Badra oil field.

Gazprom said operations in Badra were compounded by complex geological structures. Historic data from the field, near the Iraqi border with Iran, was limited to a single exploration well drilled in the 1970s.

The company is operating under the terms of a 2009 agreement with the Iraqi government to develop the Badra field for the next 20 years.