MIDDLE EAST: Crescent Petroleum, Iraqi Oil Exploration Finalise Technical Issues of Joint Study on Kuwait Border

Crescent Petroleum and representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil have held technical coordination meetings in Amman, Jordan, this past week for implementation of their joint study of an exploration area in the region near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border in Southern Iraq, reported.

The meetings follow on from a technical cooperation agreement MOU that was signed between the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company and Crescent Petroleum in September 2005.

Technical experts from Crescent Petroleum, the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company, the Southern Oil Company and the Geophysical Service Centre in Amman held meetings over several days to finalise the technical programme and scope of work. The agreed curriculum of the initial study is to take ten months and will include a re-examination of the methods for seismic measurement presently available in the region and the preparation of geological studies of the current environment and new exploration areas.

"Crescent Petroleum is the only international oil company that has had a continued presence in Iraq over many years and we have had an ongoing relationship of cooperation with the Ministry,' said Abdulla Al Qadi, Director of Upstream Operations for Crescent Petroleum, who led the company delegation for the Amman meetings. "We are proud to work with the Iraqi Oil Ministry in order to enhance the skills being applied to this study to apply new approaches on exploration methods, all of which will ultimately add value to the organization and hopefully benefit the Iraqi petroleum sector as a whole."

The company has already conducted in-depth studies for other regions in Iraq, including a detailed study and development plan for the Rattawi Field, for which they have been in discussions with the Ministry over several years.