Oil production at Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Taq Taq field will rise to 140,000 bpd by the end of August 2014, an official from Taq Taq Operating Company (TTOPCO) said
TTOPCO is a joint venture between Genel Energy and Sinopec’s Addax Petroleum.
Onder Tekeli, general manager of TTOPCO, said, “We have a target to ramp up production towards 140,000 bpd and I believe we would achieve this by the end of the month.”
Several Western oil companies including USA’s ExxonMobil and Chevron operating in the previously stable regional enclave have evacuated some of their staff while some smaller producers like Afren have halted production, according to Reuters.
But at the Taq Taq oilfield, which lies 40km southeast of Erbil, morale was good, said Tekeli. “The worries started about the IS (Islamic State) fighters when they attacked the Makhmour camp. But we have not stopped working,” he added.
TTOPCO has plans to set up three well-site production facilities to boost output.
Ozan Guler, production superintendent, said, “We already have the potential to boost production up to 140,000 bpd in our wells. We will be setting up these new facilities whose start-up period is about 10 days.”
Genel Energy, which operates the Taq Taq and Tawke oilfields in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, noted that production was still ongoing at the two fields and it was averaging a combined 230,000 bpd.
