Iraq’s Midland Oil Company on 22 July signed a development contract with US oilfield services firm SLB to raise output at the 5.6tcf Akkas field in Anbar province to 100mn cfd. The award brings to and end an embarrassing episode following last year’s contract with Ukrzemresurs (MEES, 26 April 2024), which led to parliamentary and public scrutiny that resulted in the revocation of the contract to the little-known Ukrainian firm earlier this year (MEES, 16 May).
SLB will add 60mn cfd, according to oil minister Hayan Abdulghani. Currently, all output of around 40mn cfd is piped with minimal treatment via a 30km line to the 250MW Akkas power plant. Mr Abdulghani says a separate contract will be signed with SLB to build surface processing facilities, and that ministry engineering subsidiary Scop will add flow lines from SLB-drilled wells to the new units. It is unclear what SLB’s scope of work at Akkas will be, with Midland’s CEO Mohammed Yasin indicating that this could be a comprehensive services agreement with the US firm. Midland had previously targeted 100mn cfd from Akkas by 2026, rising to 400mn cfd by 2029-30 (MEES, 19 July 2024). (CONTINUED - 189 WORDS)