Iraqi upstream is trudging forward with imminent output gains seemingly left and right from IOC- and state-operated fields alike. MEES puts current output from Basra province alone at 3.28mn b/d—a whopping 77% of federal Iraq’s total oil production— up 200,000 b/d year-on-year.

“The current budget and plan for IOCs is not just to sustain the production capacity. It is to further develop the production capacity, so we plan to reach 5mn b/d from Basra fields by 2025,” Basra Oil Company (BOC) Director General Ihsan Isma’il told reporters at the Basra Mega Projects CWC conference in Istanbul this week. “Believe me, we still have rich reserves.” (CONTINUED - 1898 WORDS)