MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The Middle East remains in the zone of strategic interests of Gazprom Neft as it is still interested in development on the market of the Iraqi Kurdistan, the Russian oil company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Despite the COVID-19-related restrictions, we continued implementation of our projects in the region in 2020. The fourth well will be commissioned at the Sarkala field that will allow boosting and supporting the production level. Today, after having created the production base, acquired a unique experience and getting an understanding of geological peculiarities of the territory, we remain interested in exploration of new development options in the region," Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Exploration and Production Vadim Yakovlev was quoted as saying.

The company’s production in the Iraqi Kurdistan has reached 4 mln tonnes since the beginning of commercial production at the Sarkala field.

"Gazprom Neft Middle East B.V. continued implementation of main production projects, including the drilling of the fourth well. Its commissioning will increase production to 4,100 tonnes and roughly 32,000 barrels. The well’s commissioning is scheduled for the first half of 2021," the company said.

Gazprom Neft is involved in implementation of two projects in the Kurdistan region: Shakal and Garmian. The share of Gazprom Neft in the Shakal block totals 80% (the remaining stake is owned by the government of the Kurdistan region), while the share in the Garmian block amounts to 40%. Gazprom Neft has been operator of the Garmian project since February 2016.