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By John Lee.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has delayed payments to oil producers by several weeks.
In statements to the markets on on Thursday, Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) and Shamaran Petroleum said that payments relating to invoices for oil production in August and September, which were due to be paid in November and December, will be received in January 2020.
(Sources: Genel Energy, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), Shamaran Petroleum)
ShaMaran Petroleum has reported that the Atrush oil field total production has exceeded 20,000,000 barrels.
ShaMaran President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Adel Chaouch said:
“This cumulative production milestone demonstrates Atrush’s upward path to higher production and has been attained ahead of target. We look forward to further future production achievements and operational improvements in the Atrush block.”
The Company maintains its Atrush 2019 average daily production guidance of between 30,000 and 35,000 bopd with the prior week’s average production of 46,000 bopd which is within our target exit rate between 45,000 bopd and 50,000 bopd. The Company shares in this production, pursuant to a production sharing contract, with a working interest of 27.6%.
The Atrush field is located 85 km northwest of Erbil and is one of the largest new oil developments in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The field was first discovered in 2011 and oil production started in July 2017.
In its over two years of production the Atrush field has sold all its production to the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq at international market prices less a discount based on quality and transportation charges.
(Source: ShaMaran)
ShaMaran Petroleum has reported that the Atrush oil field total production has exceeded 20,000,000 barrels.
ShaMaran President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Adel Chaouch said:
“This cumulative production milestone demonstrates Atrush’s upward path to higher production and has been attained ahead of target. We look forward to further future production achievements and operational improvements in the Atrush block.”
The Company maintains its Atrush 2019 average daily production guidance of between 30,000 and 35,000 bopd with the prior week’s average production of 46,000 bopd which is within our target exit rate between 45,000 bopd and 50,000 bopd. The Company shares in this production, pursuant to a production sharing contract, with a working interest of 27.6%.
The Atrush field is located 85 km northwest of Erbil and is one of the largest new oil developments in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The field was first discovered in 2011 and oil production started in July 2017.
In its over two years of production the Atrush field has sold all its production to the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq at international market prices less a discount based on quality and transportation charges.
(Source: ShaMaran)
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA) has announced that its subsidiary, TAQA Atrush B.V. (TAQA Iraq), has set a new production record from the Atrush oil field in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
For the first time since the field commenced production operations in July 2017, the total monthly production volume exceeded 1 million barrels of oil in July 2019.
The 1 million barrel mark is a key milestone in TAQA Iraq’s ongoing production improvement and expansion plans for the Atrush block and is a testimony to the effort, professionalism, and commitment to deliver safe and efficient operations in Iraq.
The current rate of gross production at the Atrush block is approximately 34,000 barrels of oil per day, which is line with the company’s targets for Q2 2019. The increase in production was largely due to new wells coming on stream and the impact of de-bottlenecking work over the past few months, which has increased the capacity of volumes handled by the production facility.
The facility has continued to meet targets at minimal spend and is a result of a focus on integrated planning and optimization.
Speaking on the milestone, TAQA Chief Executive Officer Saeed Al Dhaheri said:
“This significant achievement is a direct result of our Iraq team’s technical expertise and strategic planning efforts. As a global energy player with operations spanning four continents, our operations in Iraq have allowed us to strengthen our expertise as a leading developer of greenfield projects.
“We look forward to building on this achievement to continue to deliver energy to our strategic partners in the Kurdistan region, and to continue to forge strong relationships with local communities around the Atrush block.”
AbdulKhaliq Al Ameri, Managing Director of TAQA Iraq, added:
“Our focus for the past two years has been to improve the value of our asset while ensuring cost-optimization and uphold our commitment to health and safety. I am particularly proud of our team, which comprises more than 300 people, many of whom are from the Kurdistan region. This achievement is a result of their hard work and dedication to TAQA’s vision.”
The Atrush field is located 85 km northwest of Erbil and is one of the largest new oil developments in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The field was first discovered in 2011 and production started in 2017. In its two years of production, the Atrush field has produced of 17 million barrels of oil, with increasing efficiency.
In May 2019, TAQA Iraq completed the acquisition of an additional 7.5% working interest in the Atrush block from Marathon Oil KDV B.V. With this acquisition, TAQA Iraq’s working interest in the Atrush block increased from 39.9% to 47.4% and represents an AED 116 million addition to the company’s assets.
TAQA Iraq is the operator of the Atrush block and has a 47.4% working interest under the Atrush block Production Sharing Contract. TAQA Iraq’s partners in the project are the Kurdistan Regional Government (25%) and General Explorations Partners, Inc. (27.6%).
(Source: TAQA)
By John Lee.
ShaMaran Petroleum has announced the completion of its acquisition of an additional 7.5% participating interest in the Atrush Block [from Marathon Oil], previously announced on April 3, 2019, bringing ShaMaran’s total interest in Atrush up to 27.6%.
ShaMaran also announces that Atrush has been producing at approximately 32,000 barrels of oil per day. The Company maintains its daily average production guidance for 2019 as previously published on February 15, 2019.
Adel Chaouch, President and CEO of ShaMaran, commented:
“Closing this Acquisition is a significant achievement for our Company and the recent production results are both positive and in line with our expectations. The Company is now well positioned for its next phase of growth.”
(Source: ShaMaran Petroleum)
ShaMaran Petroleum Corporation refers to the agreement announced on June 4, 2018 whereby the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, General Exploration Partners, Inc. (“GEP”), agreed in a sale and purchase agreement (the “SPA”) with Marathon Oil KDV B.V. (“MOKDV”) ,a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corporation (“Marathon”), to acquire from MOKDV a further 15% working interest in the Atrush Block Production Sharing Contract in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (“the Acquisition”).
The underlying agreements governing the development and operation of the Atrush block require that both the Minister of Natural Resources of the Kurdistan Governmental Authority (“MNR”) as well as TAQA Atrush BV (“TAQA”), the other owner of a participating interest in, and the operator of, the Atrush block, consent to the assignment of the participating interest from MOKDV to GEP. At the time, the MNR gave assurance of providing its consent to the assignment, however, TAQA unreasonably refused to provide its consent to the Acquisition.
As a result of TAQA’s unreasonable refusal to provide consent, Marathon re-issued an offer to acquire MOKDV, a corporate transaction which does not require TAQA consent, with the result being that the Company is now engaged in a new bidding process for the Marathon interest in the Atrush block. There is no assurance that any offer by the Company or GEP, if submitted, will result in the acquisition of the increased interest in the Atrush block.
In the meantime, the Company is reviewing all available options.
(Source: ShaMaran)
ShaMaran Petroleum reports that operations in the Atrush field in Kurdistan are continuing in a normal, safe and secure manner.
Atrush is currently producing at approximately 27 thousand barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) and exports are continuing via the Kurdistan Export Pipeline system. Atrush exports for the month of December averaged 26,163 bopd and benefitted from a higher facility uptime than the 90% previously projected.
Currently the production facilities are limited to processing approximately 27,000 bopd of the total 30,000 bopd capacity due to low ambient temperatures which limits the amount of heat available to process the oil to export specifications.
Plans in 2018 include debottlenecking the production facility and proceeding with the testing, completion and tie-in of the Chiya Khere-7 well which was drilled towards the end of last year.
(Source: ShaMaran)
ShaMaran Petroleum has announced its financial and operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017. (Unless otherwise stated all currency amounts indicated as “$” in this news release are expressed in thousands of United States dollars).
HIGHLIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Operations
1 This includes a discount to Dated Brent for oil quality and all local and international transportation costs.
Corporate
2 “MMbbl” means million barrels and “MMboe” means million barrels of oil equivalents. Boe may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 million cubic feet (“Mcf”) per one barrel is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.
3 This estimate of remaining recoverable resources (unrisked) includes contingent resources that have not been adjusted for risk based on the chance of development. It is not an estimate of volumes that may be recovered.
OUTLOOK
Operations
| • | In the fourth quarter of 2017 it is planned to produce the AT-4 well until clean via temporary facilities and bring Atrush production up to the facilities’ design capacity of 30,000 bopd. | |
| • | Plans for Atrush for 2018 include: | |
| • | continue with program to identify bottlenecks in order to maximise output from the Production Facility; | |
| • | testing and completion of the CK-7 well; | |
| • | install the CK-7 flow line and bring CK-7 into production; | |
| • | drilling, testing and completion of Chiya Khere (“CK-10”), a sixth development well; | |
| • | drilling and completion of Chiya Khere (“CK-9”), a dedicated water disposal well; and | |
| • | conducting extended testing of the CK-6 well which is located on the eastern side of the Atrush Block and which is outside the 2P reserve area of Atrush. This would involve the installation of temporary production facilities near the Chamanke–C well pad and the delivery by truck of oil to the main Phase 1 Production Facilities. | |
| • | Following the results of the CK-7 and CK-10 wells, the extended well testing in CK-6 and sustained production from the Phase 1 Production Facilities the Company expects to be in a position to further assess the significant undeveloped Atrush resource base. | |
| • | The political situation in the Kurdistan region will be monitored continuously and the market will be appraised of any material impact on operational activity. | |
ShaMaran Petroleum has announced that drilling operations have commenced on the Chiya Khere (“CK-7”) appraisal and development well in the Atrush Block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
CK-7 is located in the central area of the Atrush Block approximately 3 kilometres east of the Atrush 2 producing well and 3.5 kilometres west of the Atrush 3 appraisal well.
The main objectives of the well are to appraise the commercial potential of the Mus formation, to help reduce the uncertainty in the location of the medium to heavy oil transition zone and to serve as a further producing well.
The well will be drilled with the EDC Romfor 25 drilling rig (pictured) and is expected to take approximately 52 days. Planned total vertical depth for the well is approximately 1,575 metres.
(Source: ShaMaran)