Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Drilling Company (IDC) has completed drilling a new deviated oil well in the Zubair oilfield as part of the Ministry of Oil’s efforts to increase output and enhance operational efficiency.
The IDC announced on Monday that it has successfully completed drilling the ZB-679 deviated oil well in the Zubair oilfield, using the IDC-56 drilling rig.
To boost the development of the Zubair oilfield, the new well was drilled to a depth of 3,846 meters with a 20-degree inclination.
The new well is part of a string of wells designed to keep production levels stable and improve the Zubair oilfield’s capabilities in the next phase.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry is continuing its efforts in developing major oil resources by drilling new wells and improving production infrastructure to boost output and support the government’s goal of increasing oil exports.
The Zubair field is one of Iraq’s biggest oilfields. Discovered in 1949, commercial production began in the early 1950s, making it critical to the national economy.
The field has large reserves, officially estimated at over four billion barrels of recoverable crude oil. According to unofficial estimates, modern extraction technologies might increase these reserves to roughly five billion barrels.
As part of the Ministry of Oil’s attempts to prevent gas flaring and generate electricity, the oilfield has seen achievements in the recovery of associated gas, with a rate reaching 147 million cubic feet per day.
The Zubair oilfield is located onshore in Iraq and is operated by Italy’s Eni. Economic calculations indicate that production will continue until the field reaches its economic limit in 2047.
Eni and its partners are aiming to raise the oilfield’s output capacity to 700,000 barrels per day, with a long-term government objective of 850,000 barrels per day.
With a daily output capacity of around 450,000 barrels, the oilfield presently accounts for around nine percent of the country’s oil production.