In the last 4.5 years since it was formed, the Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO) has produced 2 billion barrels of crude oil at the Rumail oil field in Iraq. Now the group plans to ramp up production by 50 percent by 2020.
ROO announced its intent to increase production during an event Dec. 17 celebrating the fifth anniversary of the signing on the Rumaila Technical Service Contract—the agreement that brought renewed focus to one of the largest oil fields in the world and Iraq’s single largest economic contributor. ROO was formed in 2009 by Iraq’s South Oil Co. and State Oil Marketing Organization, BP and PetroChina. The event was attended by Iraq’s new oil minister Adel Abdul Mehdi.
Salah Mohammed, Rumaila general manager, said, “We welcome His Excellency Adel Abdul Mehdi to Rumaila to celebrate a highly successful five years of partnership with BP and PetroChina.”
He added, “We believe this is an historic moment in this giant field’s history. For all those involved it is clear that the Technical Service Contract developed by the Ministry of Oil and SOC has had a huge impact on the Iraqi oil industry over the last five years.”
He added, “A 50 percent increase in production by 2020 is a major undertaking, but thanks to the technical expertise and support of BP and PetroChina, we are ready for the challenge ahead.”
The field currently produces roughly 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Along with the event and ROO’s announcement, BP released the following video which looks back at some of the last five year’s activity at Rumaila.