Anton, Petrofac sign deal to operate Iraq's Majnoon oilfield - executives (updated)

Anton Oilfield Services

05/04/2018 13:07

(Adds details, context)
    BASRA, Iraq, April 5 (Reuters) - The Iraqi oil ministry
signed a two-year contract with Anton Oilfield Services
 3337.HK  and Petrofac  PFC.L  on Thursday to operate the giant
Majnoon oilfield, two oil executives said.
    The companies will operate the southern oilfield on behalf
of Iraqi state-owned Basra Oil Company which is taking over
operations there from Royal Dutch Shell  RDSa.L .
    Shell had announced its intention to exit the field, which
started production in 2014, by the end of June.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1PR25X
    The Integrated Field Management Support contract for Majnoon
signed with Anton and Petrofac can be renewed after two years,
the executives said.
    The executives, one Iraqi and one foreign, are involved in
the project but declined to be identified.
    Basra Oil said in February it plans to raise output at
Majnoon to 450,000 bpd in three years, from 240,000 bpd now, by
adding a new production platform.
    With output of 4.4 million bpd in March, Iraq is the
second-largest producer of the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1RH2I4
    Iraq is producing below its maximum capacity of nearly 5
million bpd under an agreement between OPEC and other exporters
including Russia to curtail global supply to support oil prices.
    The Iraqi government announced plans this week to increase
the country's oil output capacity to 6.5 million bpd by 2022.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1RE0IM

 (Reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra; writing by Maher
Chmaytelli in Baghdad; editing by Jason Neely and Adrian Croft)
 ((maher.chmaytelli@thomsonreuters.com; +9647901917030;))