Woodside Petroleum to study oil projects in northern Iraq (16/11/04)

Woodside Petroleum, Australia's largest listed oil and gas company, said that it has signed a two-year agreement to evaluate potential oil and gas projects in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. Under the accord, Woodside and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil would undertake a six-month study - mostly from Perth, Australia - to identify viable oil and gas projects.

"This is an initial step to work with the Iraqi Oil Minister and government to more fully understand the potential risks, rewards and benefits of investing in Iraq's oil and gas sector," Woodside chief executive Don Voelte said in a statement.

Woodside, 34 per cent-owned by Royal Dutch/Shell, has been forced to look beyond Australia to boost production in the face of naturally declining fields and limited exploration success.
 
Woodside will evaluate oil and gas projects in Iraqi-Kurdistan
 

In a report released earlier this year, UK-based energy consultants Wood Mackenzie said that Woodside, as an operator, drilled a total of nine wells offshore Australia last year and all were unsuccessful. Woodside's other key operations are in Africa, where it has embarked on a massive drilling campaign, and the US.

"The study will determine what the next step might be. But if the area looks promising to us then we may offer to other Australian companies, an opportunity to participate but it is very early days," company spokesman Rob Millhouse said.

Under the $2.5 million agreement, Woodside will also sponsor the training of five Iraq oil ministry personnel in Western Australia and 10 science and engineering students.

Millhouse said the study would evaluate data from two onshore fields - the Taq-Taq oil field, discovered in the late 1970s, and the Chemchemal gas field drilled in the 1950s.

Source: Reuters

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