BP targets 2.5 million barrels

Rumaila oil field Baghdad - Jaafar Nassrawi Sources at BP revealed the Rumaila oil field in Iraq produced 1.377 million barrels per day in August. This exceeded the production target in 2012. The source confirmed the company desires to reach 2.5 million barrels per day. A source who wished to remain anonymous told Arabstoday that a coalition of the British and the Chinese companies won the development contract. It stated, "the production in 2010 increased from 900,000 barrels per day to 1.2 million barrels in the same year." The source said, "more than two billion dollars were invested in the Rumaila oil field since 2010 and now. The coalition of the two companies is seeking to reach a production peak of about 2.5 million barrels per day during the next four years." The Chinese company CINC and the British company BP won the deal in June 2009. The field has a ceiling production of 2.85 barrels per day and a profit of $2 dollars per barrel. The BP share is 38 percent, the share held by the Chinese company is 37 percent and the Southern Oil Company has 25 percent. The Rumaila oil field is one of the largest fields in Iraq and the fourth largest oil field worldwide. It was discovered in 1953 and the oil is extracted from the field under the supervision of the Southern Oil Company in Basra. The reserve of the giant field is estimated to contain seventeen billion barrels.