Baghdad– The developments in the oil sector in Iraq, which recently announced the discovery of a new oil field, is accelerating, but this discovery, despite its strategic importance, faces great challenges as a result of restrictions on the production and export of crude imposed by the OPEC Plus alliance.
The Iraqi Central Oil Company, in cooperation with the Chinese company (ABS) on January 20, achieved an oil discovery in the southeast Baghdad field, noting that it will add more than two billion barrels to Iraq’s oil reserves, which makes it the largest oil discovery in the middle Iraq.
One billion barrels
The general manager of the center oil company, Mohamed Yassin, confirmed that the newly discovered oil patch size is 114 square kilometers, and that it contains two billion barrels of oil.
Yassin added in an interview with (Al -Jazeera Net) that this discovery raised the strategic stock of Iraq from oil from 148 billion barrels to more than 150 billion barrels.
He explained that Al -Wasat Oil Company, in cooperation with ABS Petroleum, operating the field, is the authority responsible for developing and extracting oil from this field.
Yassin stressed that this discovery will contribute to increasing the capabilities of Iraq, noting the possibility of increasing daily production of the field from the level of 50-60 thousand barrels to more than 200 thousand barrels per day, which will increase export revenues and contribute to the operation of power stations.
The oil reserves in Iraq are the fifth largest confirmed oil reserves in the world and amount to 148 billion barrels, and are concentrated in the southern regions and some of them in the western regions.
OPEC ceilings
An expert in oil affairs, Hamza Al -Jawahiri, reduces the importance of the new oil discovery, saying that it does not bear great importance at the present time, because the export ceilings set by OPEC prevent Iraq from increasing its productive and exporting quantities.
OPEC is involved in the OPEC Plus coalition with countries from outside the organization, headed by Russia, and this alliance determines production ceilings for each country in it to control the global oil market.
Al -Jawahiri said in an interview with (Al -Jazeera Net) that Iraq already possesses between 40 to 50 billion barrels of discovered oil, and it has not been announced or developed, which makes the new discovery look small in comparison.
Al -Jawahiri explained that Iraq’s commitment to OPEC controls allows it to discover more oil, but prevents it from developing and producing quantities of more than the specified ceilings.
He pointed out that Iraq currently has an additional production capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day, but it cannot exploit it because of these ceilings, which leads to the closure of many wells.
Al -Jawahiri concluded that the issue relates to global controls and energy policies worldwide as a whole.
Iraq, the second largest product for crude oil in OPEC with an average daily production, is 4.6 million barrels per day in natural conditions, away from production reduction agreements, but as a result of the production reduction plan that the organization has followed, Iraq reduced its productivity to 4 million barrels per day.
in the long run
The economist, Hamad Bariha, sheds light on the benefits that this oil patch can achieve. In his talk to (Al -Jazeera Net), he indicates that the presence of prior information about the availability of oil on the discovered site supports this discovery, stressing that the current time does not represent a major obstacle The issue is not related to the presence or lack of geological restrictions on the discovery of oil, but rather to increase production.
And Berihi stresses that the discovery of this field confirms that the oil reserves in Iraq are greater than it was previously believed, and that it is not limited to specific geographical areas, but it is always possible to discover new geological structures that contain oil.
And Berihi believes that the direct benefit of this discovery lies in strengthening the economic image of Iraq, in addition to providing an opportunity to extract oil from multiple areas and with greater flexibility at any time and under any circumstances.
