Petrel has eye on Iraqi oil fields
It announced yesterday it would submit plans to the Iraqi oil ministry for three fields one in Kirkuk in the north, and Hamrin and Subba/Luhais fields in the centre.
Managing director David Horgan said he would be travelling to Iraq in the next few days to submit the tenders. He said there were several competitors for each field, but he was confident that Petrel would be awarded one of the contracts.
The fields are small compared to the potential oil output of Iraq, which has some of the largest oil reserves in the Middle East.
The Kirkuk prospect is capable of pumping out 120,000 barrels and is located in the highly productive Kirkuk field, an area 80 kilometres long and 25km wide.
However, it is lacking the infrastructure needed to extract the oil.
But Mr Horgan said Petrel have no trouble finding partners to work on fields given the proven resources.
Mr Horgan said the security situation was still a problem, with attacks on oil pipelines and infrastructure still occurring on a regular basis. He added that the security issues should be alleviated when the fields begin to produce.
Petrel said it anticipated starting a general western desert geological sampling programme as soon as the weather permits. Seismic interpretation, mapping and evaluating satellite imagery is ongoing. Petrel shares, listed on London's Alternative Investment Marker, shot up by 37% yesterday on the update to 28p.
