One of the biggest undeveloped oilfields in the world has begun commercial production in south Iraq, officials said Saturday, part of ambitious plans by Baghdad to dramatically ramp up output. The announcement was made during a ceremony attended by Oil Minister Abdelkarim al-Luaybi and Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, as well as officials from Russian energy giant Lukoil, the principal firm developing the enormous West Qurna-2 field.
It comes just weeks ahead of parliamentary elections, with the country looking to fund reconstruction of its dilapidated infrastructure and economy by upping crude sales. "Production started today," said Nasir Hashim Fakhr, the Iraqi oil ministry official charged with the development of West Qurna-2 field in the southern Basra province. Fakhr told reporters initial production was about 120,000 barrels per day (bpd), but that output would rise to 420,000 bpd by the end of the year.
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