Iraq begins final expansion phase at Halfaya oil field aiming to double output

[yota691]

Iraq begins final expansion phase at Halfaya oil field aiming to double output

25 APRIL, 2017

    

Flames emerge from a pipeline at Basra refinery in Basra province, . REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani

Reuters/Essam Al-Sudani

 

 

 

Iraq to double oil export capacity at terminal to 1.2 mln bpd- official

BASRA, Iraq, April 25 (Reuters) - Iraq has launched the third and final phase of work to expand its southern Halfaya oil field, aiming to double its output capacity in 2018 to 400,000 barrels per day, a state-run oil company said. 

Additional facilities to separate crude oil from associated natural gas will be set up as part of Halfaya's expansion, Adnan Noshi, head of Maysan Oil Co which oversees oilfields in Maysan province, told Reuters on Tuesday. 

Halfaya, operated by PetroChina , is Maysan Oil's largest field, producing 200,000 of the company's total output of 380,000 bpd, Noshi said. 
 

 

Expansion at Halfaya should raise Maysan's overall output to nearly 600,000 bpd in 2018, he said. Iraq plans to increase its oil output capacity to 5 million bpd before the end of the year. 

Output stood at more than 4.7 million bpd, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on April 2. OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq produced at a rate of 4.464 million bpd in March, down by more than 300,000 bpd from late last year. Iraq has reduced its output alongside other oil exporters this year as part of an agreement aimed at boosting crude prices. 

[jeepguy]

Mmmmm, quite the turn around, from cutting back on production, to let's keep pumping more... 

[Wiljor]

1 hour ago, jeepguy said:

Mmmmm, quite the turn around, from cutting back on production, to let's keep pumping more... 

As our good friend Synopsis would say 

Go moola nova 

[Synopsis]

3 minutes ago, Wiljor said:

As our good friend Synopsis would say 

Go moola nova 

Oh, Yeah! 

[Theseus]

The only way this is good for Iraq is if this negates the Kurds output. Denigrating their output would then put them on notice of how much Iraq depended on their contribution to the sale of oil. Increasing production thus increasing supply only leads to less demand. Less demand leads to lower prices for the offering provided to the consumer to create higher demand by the consumer. The prices then spiral downwards until the curve of demand and supply become equivalent. The only way for prices to then go back up is to reduce supply and increase demand once more.

While on the surface this may look promising and advantageous to Iraq it could be them shooting themselves in the foot if full capacity was ever realized in addition to what is currently being outputted by all regions of Iraq. 

We want oil prices to go up not down.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Theseus

[bkeiller]

I think having over capacity is strategic planning, in case any fields are disrupted in Iraq or elsewhere. They are probably also speculating on increased demand from India and China, especially if the US economy keeps its momentum going? As for the prices, I don't think the Saudis will be up for another price battle with the US frackers. It harmed more than it healed.