The Rumaila oil field is a super-giant

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presen ...

located in southern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, approximately from the

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Ku ...

i border. Discovered in 1953 by the Basrah Petroleum Company (BPC), an associate company of the

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the worl ...

(IPC), the field is estimated to contain 17 billion barrels, which accounts for 12% of Iraq's oil reserves estimated at 143.1 billion barrels. Rumaila is said to be the largest oilfield ever discovered in Iraq and is considered the third largest oil field in the world. Under

Abd al-Karim Qasim Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown d ...

, the oilfield was confiscated by the Iraqi government by Public Law No. 80 of 11 December 1961. Since then, this massive oil field has remained under Iraqi control. The assets and rights of IPC were nationalised by

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

in 1972, and those of BPC in 1975. The dispute between Iraq and Kuwait over alleged slant-drilling in the field was one of reasons for Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.Thomas C. Hayes
CONFRONTATION IN THE GULF; The Oilfield Lying Below the Iraq-Kuwait Dispute
''The New York Times'', September 3, 1990 The oil field requires regular investment to manage its reservoir. To maintain steady output, 200,000 barrels a day of lost production has to be replaced every year. North Rumaila is called "the cemetery" by the locals. A local environmental scientist told the BBC that

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

here is so rife it is "like the flu".

Ownership

The field is owned by Iraq and subcontracted to BP and

CNPC The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) () is a major national oil and gas corporation of China and one of the largest integrated energy groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Dongcheng District, Beijing. CNPC was ranked fourth ...

under ''Iraq Producing Field Technical Service Contract (PFTSC)''. BP is an operator of the project with 47.6% while CNPC and SOMO hold 46.4% and 6%, respectively. BP and CNPC will recover a renumerated fee of $2 per barrel in profits which will account to 15 to 20% rate of return on investment. Iraqi government and BP agreed to cut the initial bidding price per barrel from $3.99 to $2.00 in June 2009. The US changed its status of forces agreement the same month, starting to depart from Iraq.

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 3 ...

which also bid on servicing this field at a price $4.80 walked away due to price cutting terms by the Iraqi Government leaving BP and CNPC as winners of the contract. BP expects the costs will begin to be recovered after the production will be raised by 10% from the current output. The rehabilitation and expansion project will be managed by Rumaila Field Operating Organization (ROO) which will be staffed mainly from PETROFAC employees, a wide range of international oilfield service providers, and smaller number of experts from BP and CNPC. An estimated $15 billion will be spent on enhancing the operations at Rumaila over the next 20 years.

Production

As of December 2015, the field produces making up 40% of Iraq's oil production of . Currently ~270 production wells are operating at Rumaila. BP and CNPC intend to raise the production to within the next six years. Once this production milestone is reached, Rumaila will become the second largest oil field in the world after the Saudi Arabian

Ghawar oil field Ghawar (Arabic: الغوار) is an oil field located in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Measuring (some ), it is by far the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for roughly a third of the cumulative ...

. However, it is likely that the target for peak production is cut down to between 1.8-2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), the Iraqi oil ministry and oil industry sources said. The field produced in 2019. Production Facilities Oil production is operated by Rumaila Operating Organisation, with 14 "degassing stations" currently installed - 7 in the North field and 7 in the South field. These stations provide 3-phase separation (oil, water & natural gas). Crude oil is sent by pipeline to local refineries or ports in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

h for export. Natural gas is provided to the Basrah Gas Company. Water is disposed into disposal wells. Degassing station names: * North Rumaila: DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4, DS5, NIDS, SIDS * South Rumaila: Markezia (Rumaila), Janubia, Shamyah, Qurainat, Mishrif Shamyah, Mishrif Qurainat, Ratqa ;Drilling contracts In early 2010, BP subcontracted deals valued at around $500 million to

Weatherford International Weatherford International plc, an American Irish public limited company, together with its subsidiaries, is a multinational oilfield service company and one of the largest companies in the world in oil services. Weatherford is a wellbore and p ...

, consortium of

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling comp ...

and Iraqi Drilling Co, and Daqing Oilfield Company Limited from China to drill 49 new wells at Rumaila. Weatherford is going to drill seven wells while partnership of Schlumberger and Iraqi Drilling Co, and Daqing Oil Field Co will drill 21 wells each. In February 2011, Conceptual Design, Front End Engineering Design (FEED), Minimum Work Obligations and Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT) services contract was awarded t
WorleyParsons

Reservoir

Rumaila reportedly holds an estimated of oil; which accounts for 12% of Iraq's oil reserves, estimated at 143.1 billion barrels. The oil sits approximately below the surface which is considered an easy target for production. At current production rate of 1,330,000 barrels per day (211,000 m3/d), the

reserves-to-production ratio The reserves-to-production ratio (RPR or R/P) is the remaining amount of a non-renewable resource, expressed in time. While applicable to all natural resources, the RPR is most commonly applied to fossil fuels, particularly petroleum and natural gas ...

is 35 years.

Importance

Rumaila oil field was critical in the 1990

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Iraq, after accusing Kuwait of allegedly side-drilling under Iraqi soil, launched an attack on Kuwait on 2 August 1990. In addition, Kuwait had been producing quantities of oil, which were above treaty limits established by OPEC. In fact, before the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait in 1990, Kuwait has drilled only 8 vertical wells in its part of the Rumaila field and the production was limited due to different technical problems. The issue for Kuwait was territorial more than oil. Kuwait never drilled deviated wells that crossed the Iraqi borders. After the liberation of Kuwait in 1991, the United Nation border demarcation committee went back to the historical data and shifted the Kuwaiti border toward the north which meant that Iraq was producing from Kuwaiti territory. During the Iraq Invasion in 2003, the Iraqi Army laid an 18 km long defensive minefield across it, which contained an estimated 100,000 mines. The Iraqi Army also set fire to parts of the oil field as a defensive maneuver.

Camps in North Rumaila Oil Field

There are many oil field companies camps for their staff in North rumaila oil field. * Weatherford City North Rumaila * British Petroleum camp in North Rumaila

Cancer-risk

Gas, a by-product from the oil-extraction, is burned openly, which produces cancer-linked pollutants. The Iraqi law prohibit gas-burning less than 10 km from people's homes, but BBC found in 2022 gas was being burned as close as 350 meters from people's homes. A leaked report from Ministry of Health (Iraq) blamed air pollution for 20% rise in

between 2015 and 2018.BP in oil field where ‘cancer is rife’
By Jess Kelly, Owen Pinnell & Esme Stallard, 30 September, BBC The Iraqi Ministry of Health has banned its employees from speaking about the health damage. Iraqi Environment Minister Jassem al-Falahi later admitted that "pollution from oil production is the main reason for increases in local cancer rates." None of the affected locals have gotten any compensation.Iraqi minister admits gas flaring cancer link
17 October, BBC

References

External links

Rumaila Operating Organisation official website

Rumaila Operating Organisation official Facebook page
{{China National Petroleum Corporation BP oil and gas fields Oil fields of Kuwait Oil fields of Iraq Oil field disputes Territorial disputes of Kuwait Territorial disputes of Iraq