Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghani announced on Thursday that Iraq has activated a contract with British oil company BP to develop the Kirkuk oil fields, targeting an initial production of 328,000 barrels per day.
The contract, signed earlier this year, includes BP collaborating with the state-owned North Oil Company and North Gas Company to rehabilitate and expand production at the Baba and Avana domes in the Kirkuk field, as well as the Jambur, Bai Hassan, and Khabbaz fields.
Abdul Ghani said in a statement issued by the ministry: "Setting the initial production rate at 328,000 barrels per day is the start of the contract, and anything beyond that will come from development operations. Through this contract, we hope to increase crude oil production and, consequently, raise associated gas investment rates."
A senior Iraqi oil official told Reuters in February that BP is expected to invest up to $25 billion over the project's duration.
It's worth noting that BP was part of the oil consortium that discovered oil in Kirkuk in the 1920s, and it estimates the field contains approximately nine billion barrels of recoverable oil.
The company also owns a 50% stake in a joint venture operating the giant Rumaila oil field in southern Iraq, where it has been operating for nearly a century.
Iraq activates contract with BP to develop Kirkuk oil fields
