MOSCOW, June 3 (UPI) -- Russian oil company Lukoil is preparing for major drilling operations in the giant West Qurna-2 oil field in Iraq, executives said.
Lukoil and Norwegian giant Statoil in February signed off on the rights to develop the West Qurna-2 oil field near the southern port city of Basra.
Leonid Fedun, a vice president at Lukoil, said large-scale drilling operations at West Qurna-2 scheduled for 2011 could bring production to 440,000 barrels per day, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.
Drilling in West Qurna-2 is expected in 2011 with full-scale production slated for the end of 2012. The field should reach a peak production rate of 1.8 million barrels per day by 2017 and sustain that level for more than a decade.
West Qurna-2 holds roughly 13 billion barrels of oil. It is located about 40 miles northwest of the port city of Basra near the outlets to the Persian Gulf.
Lukoil said it plans to dump $30 billion into developing the oil field with its partners at Statoil.
