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LUKOIL adds 35 mln tonnes to West Qurna-2 reserves in Iraq in 2013

MOSCOW, January 29, (ITAR-TASS). The Russian oil company LUKOIL Overseas increased the C1 oil reserves of Iraq’s West Qurna-2 field by 35 million tonnes in 2013.

West Qurna-2 with recoverable reserves of about 14 billion barrels of oil is located in the south of Iraq, 65 km northwest of Basra. The 20-year contract for the development of the oil field, with a possible extension for five years, was signed in January 2013.

Following the Norwegian company Statoil’s withdrawal from the project in the middle of 2012, LUKOIL remains the only contractor to implement it in Iraq.

In January 2013, LUKOIL CEO Vagit Alekperov and the authorised representatives of the Iraqi state-owned companies, North Oil Company and South Oil Company, signed a Supplement Agreement to the Development and Production Service Contract related to Iraq’s West Qurna-2 field, in Baghdad.

The Supplement Agreement puts on record the transfer to LUKOIL of Norwegian Statoil's participation interest of 18.75 percent in the project.

The parties also agreed to reduce the project’s target production level from 1.8 million barrels per day to 1.2 million, to extend the period of target production level maintenance from 13 to 19.5 years and to prolong the total validity of the contract from 20 to 25 years.

The new fundamental indicators weere taken into consideration during preparation of the final Development Plan for West Qurna-2 Field, which was presented for review by the Iraqi partner in 2013.

“The modified provisions of the project provide for the implementation of LUKOIL’s production and economic targets, while the risks emerging in the course of implementation of the project are considerably reduced,” Alekperov said.

LUKOIL Overseas is an integral part of the LUKOIL group. This foreign upstream subsidiary manages LUKOIL’s international oil and gas production and exploration projects in 13 countries, providing 5.1 percent of LUKOIL’s total crude oil volume and 24.7 percent of its natural gas. Exploration and efficient development of oil and gas fields in a growing number of foreign countries, such are the priorities of LUKOIL Overseas. Its most important mission therefore is to promote the transformation of LUKOIL into one of multinational energy leaders.

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