Iraq's Dec Oil Exports To Exceed 1.9 Million B/D - SOMO Chief

By Hassan Hafidh
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Iraq's crude oil exports in December are expected to exceed the 1.91 million barrels a day that the country exported in November, head of the State Oil Marketing Organization, or SOMO, said Monday.

Falah Alamri told Dow Jones Newswires that oil exports in January are expected to hit 2 million barrels a day and that they will be increased further gradually during the rest of the year.

Alamri attributed the rise in exports to increases in production in southern oil fields following the mega deals that Baghdad had awarded to international oil companies over the last 12 months.

Iraq's newly appointed oil minister Abdul Kareem Luaiby told reporters in Baghdad Monday that the country's crude oil production has reached 2.6 million barrels a day over the last few days--the highest level in the last two decades--thanks to international firms that are upgrading southern oil fields.

-By Hassan Hafidh; Dow Jones Newswires; +962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@dowjones.com
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Gulf Keystone wraps up Kurdistan testing
Mon, 08/11/2010 - 11:41 | Fiona Bond
AIM-listed Gulf Keystone Petroleum has wrapped up its successful testing operations at the Bijeel-1 discovery well in Kurdistan.Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has wrapped up its successful testing operations at the Bijeel-1 discovery well in Kurdistan.

The AIM-listed oil explorer said the results supported its belief that the Bijeel-1 well, in which it owns a 20% interest, is the possible southern flank of the "potentially significant" Bekhme structure.

The cased hole test, performed at a depth of 3,804 - 3,967 metres in the Jurassic formations, pumped out 2,700 barrels per day of 12-13 °API oil.

Previously the well has produced 3,200 bbl/d of 18 °API oil and 933,000 standard cubic feet per day of gas, the company added.

A joint cased hole test was also carried out above two intervals with a result of 3,743 bbl/d of 13 °API oil and 618,826 standard cubic feet per day.

"Today's announcement highlights the clear potential of the Akri Bijeel block," chief operating officer John Gerstenlauer said.

The planning of the formation's appraisal programme is now underway, the company added, while ongoing exploration of the Akri-Bijeel block, including the Bekhme structure, will continue in due course.

The Weatherford drilling rig will now be released to the Shaikan-2 location and begin drilling the first deep appraisal well on the Shaikan structure.

The update came as Iraqi leaders were locked in talks to thrash out a new government for the country after an eight-month deadlock.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and former premier Ayad Allawi were joined by Kurdish and Sunni Muslim leaders in Kurdistan ahead of a new legislature in Baghdad on Thursday.

Analysts have repeatedly said that a deal could significantly help the burgeoning Kurdish oil industry, after a payment dispute late last year led Kurdistan to halt oil exports to Baghdad.

The groups are set to resume their talks in Baghdad tomorrow.