COMMENTS JPT EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

J.C. Cunha, Senior Technical Consultant, Petrobras

America Inc., Chairperson
Francisco J. Alhanati, Director Exploration &
Production, C-FER Technologies

Iraq’s Potential Syed Ali, Research Advisor, Schlumberger

Ibere N. Alves, Senior Petroleum Engineer, Petrobras
Renzo, Angeles, Senior Research Engineer, ExxonMobil
John Donnelly, JPT Editor • jdonnelly@spe.org Baojun Bai, Assistant Professor of Petroleum
Engineering, Missouri University of Science
and Technology
Ian G. Ball, Director, Subsea Domain Ltd.
Luciane Bonet, Senior Reservoir Engineer,
Iraq may eventually alter the global production landscape, Petrobras America Inc.
but the initial steps taken last year and in early 2010 to revive Robert B. Carpenter, Senior Advisor–Cementing,
its oil sector have been cautious. Questions about infrastruc- Chevron
ture, security, export ability, and contract terms continue to Simon Chipperfield, Team Leader Central and
Amadeus Gas Exploitation Development, Santos Ltd.
hold back any change of a quick recovery. Gerald R. Coulter, President, Coulter Energy
Iraq contains the world’s third-largest proven reserves of International
conventional oil and eventually could rival Saudi Arabia as Martin Crick, Business Development Manager,
OPEC’s top producer, but the oil industry is so far skeptical Schlumberger
Ivor Ellul, Chief Executive Officer,
of the country’s plans to boost production from the cur- Knowledge Reservoir, LLC
rent 2.5 million BOPD to 6–7 million BOPD in 6 years. Some analysts say that Brent L. Estes, Technical Advisor, ExxonMobil
number could be higher. James Burkhard, director of oil research for energy Emmanuel Garland, Head of HSE, Total S.A
consultants IHS-CERA, believes that Iraq’s untapped oil fields could add almost Sam Gomersall, Director, CO2DeepStore Ltd.
10 million BOPD within 10 years, changing the dynamics of OPEC. Harvey Goodman, Research Consultant, Chevron
That may be too much to ask a country hampered by years of war, sanc- Robert Harrison, Consultant Petroleum Engineer,
tions, post-war violence, and messy politics. But even if it met half its goal, the Soluzioni Idrocarburi srl.
Delores J. Hinkle, Director, Corporate Reserves,
impact would be huge. Saudi Arabia, long OPEC’s swing producer with the Marathon Oil Co.
ability to affect oil prices by raising or curtailing production, currently produces Damir Horvat, Senior Engineering Manager,
8 million BOPD but has a capacity of at least 12 million BOPD. Arrow Energy
Iraq has held two international bid rounds to try to attract investor interest in Jean-Louis Jousseaume, Head of Geographical
Areas–Americas, Europe, and CIS, Total S.A.
reviving its E&P with mixed results, although the globe’s largest operators appear
Gerd Kleemeyer, Team Leader, Shell International
to be key to fixing and reviving the energy landscape there. In January, Iraq award- Gregory Kubala, Global Chemistry Metier Manager,
ed the last of 10 international licenses to develop fields during the two rounds, Schlumberger
just half of the 21 fields on offer. Fifteen firms won the rights to develop fields Cam Matthews, Director, C-FER Technologies
under 20-year contracts, the first outside company access to Iraq since foreign Stephane Menand, Research Engineer,
Paris School of Mines
firms were banned in the 1970s. The country apparently remains one of the few
Graham Mensa-Wilmot, Drilling Engineering Advisor,
regions in the world that has vast reserves that have not been well-exploited. Chevron International E&P
There are already some optimistic signs. One of the country’s largest fields, John Misselbrook, Director Global Coiled Tubing,
Rumaila, is scheduled to begin producing an additional 100,000 BOPD in July. BJ Services Company
BP and CNPC won the rights to that field in the first auction last June. The field Alvaro F. Negrao, Deepwater Group Manager,
Repsol-YPF SA
is estimated to contain 15% of Iraq’s total reserves.
Shauna G. Noonan, Staff Production Engineer,
Among the January winners were Shell and Petronas, which won the rights ConocoPhillips Co.
to develop Majnoon, one of the largest unexploited fields; CNPC, Petronas, Karen Olson, Completion Team Leader, BP plc
and Total, which won the rights to the Halfaya field; and Lukoil and Statoil, Michael L. Payne, Senior Advisor, BP plc
which were the high bidders on perhaps the most valued property, West Qurna- Marcel Polikar, Senior Reservoir Engineer, Shell E&P Co.
2. Other winners were Eni for the Zubair field and ExxonMobil and Shell for Mauricio P. Rebelo, Technical Services Manager,
Petrobras America Inc.
West Qurna-1.
Casey McDonough, Drilling Engineer, Chesapeake
Elections scheduled for this month could be critical for Iraq’s future oil devel- Energy Corporation
opment. Nonviolent elections that lead to a more stable political and business Regis K. Romeu, Petroleum Engineer, Petrobras
environment will go a long way to attracting the type of investment needed to Jon Ruszka, Product Line Manager, INTEQ
develop its vast potential. Of particular need is an oil law that will protect the Jacques Salies, Well Engineering Manager,
rights of foreign oil investors. JPT Petrobras America Inc.
Jerome J. Schubert, Assistant Professor,
Texas A&M University
Brian Skeels, Emerging Technologies Manager,
FMC Technologies
Erik Vikane, Head of Reservoir Management,
StatoilHydro ASA
JPT is always eager to hear from its readers. If you have any comments John Vitucci, Senior Project Manager, Doris Inc.
or suggestions, please contact me at jdonnelly@spe.org or by phone at Scott Wilson, Senior Vice President, Ryder Scott Company
+1.713.779.9595 ext. 616.

16 JPT • MARCH 2010