OREANDA-NEWS. Dana Gas, the Middle East's leading regional private sector natural gas Company, and Crescent Petroleum, the oldest private oil and gas Company in the Middle East, have announced the achievement of five years of continuous production in their major operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. As joint operators of the Khor Mor Field on behalf of the Pearl Consortium, they are currently producing an average of 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, with total investment of USD  1.1 billion and total cumulative production of close to 100 million boe. This is the largest investment and production in the oil & gas sector of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

The daily production includes 335 million cubic feet of gas per day and 14,100 barrels of condensate, with an LPG capacity of over 1,000 tonnes per day. A maximum production rate of 87,700 boe per day was also achieved. In total, over 402 billion cubic feet of gas and 20 million barrels equivalent of liquids have been produced by the companies since the start of production in October 2008, with the gas supply to local power stations enabling 1,750 MW of new electricity supply locally.

This has ensured almost continuous power supply for 4 million people in the Kurdistan Region, in contrast to the electricity crisis in other parts of Iraq, and provided USD   11 billion of savings in fuel costs for the government, with annual savings in excess of USD  3.3 billion going forward and major environmental benefits in cutting greenhouse gas emissions while transforming and energizing the economic and social development of the entire region at the same time. In addition, the environmental benefits included a total of USD  169 million in carbon savings and lower environmental pollution thanks to the utilization of natural gas instead of liquid fuels for power generation.

"We are proud to be the largest investors in the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas sector, and the highest petroleum producers since our first production five years ago, which enables electricity supply for millions of citizens, transforming the development of the region and providing billions of dollars of ongoing fuel savings for the Kurdistan Regional Government," said Mr. Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum and Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas.

Marking the fifth anniversary of continuous production by the partners,
Mr. Patrick Allman-Ward, CEO of Dana Gas, said: "This important milestone has been achieved with the cooperation and support of the KRG, as well as our partners, contractors and local staff. In addition we are working with the Ministry to resolve all outstanding matters, including receivables, amicably and in good faith. We are also in discussion with them on further expansion of our investment and production, with the correct assurances and under the contractual terms."

Project Technical Achievements
The project partners had by the end of September 2013 invested a total of USD  1,069 million under contracts signed with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for the Khor Mor and Chemchemal blocks in April 2007. Major achievements of the project so far include: installing a 180km gas pipeline across challenging mountainous terrain that required the clearing of minefields; first gas production after only 16 months; drilling successfully to tertiary reservoir formations at depths of 2,300 metres, and importing and installing over 64,000 tonnes of equipment in over 3,500 truck-loads, with pipe material supplied from China and Thailand, and the state-of-the-art gas processing plant imported from the USA.

During the project’s construction phase, work opportunities were provided for over 2,000 Iraqi workers from all ethnic groups and sects, supported by expatriate workers from over 20 nationalities in the region and worldwide. The companies have successfully implemented a nationalisation programme, and already achieved the target of 80% local staff ratio in their operations while currently implementing a major training programme for local staff.