The Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Thamir A. Al Ghadhban, and Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, met today in Baghdad.
During the meeting, Eni's CEO illustrated the ongoing activities in the country in light of the recent results of the development of the Zubair field. The project, carried out by Eni Iraq BV with Basra Oil Company (BOC), marked the rapid development of one of the largest oil fields in the southern Basra region, with over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent produced by the signing of the contract.
Zubair's production has increased by more than 100% in the last four years and a new power plant from 380MW that will generate energy for domestic consumption is currently being commissioned with a start-up scheduled for this summer.
Eni's CEO and the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy also discussed the future opportunities and progress of social projects currently underway in the Basra region in the areas of health care, education, and access to energy and drinking water.
Eni's CEO also highlighted the potential synergies linked to energy projects in Iraq, a strategic lever for the country to maximize the use of national natural resources.
Eni is one of the leading international oil and gas operators in the country, where it currently produces around 500.000 equivalent oil barrels per day and plans to invest additional 7 billion dollars in the Zubair field development project.
Eni is present in Iraq by 2009 through its subsidiary Eni Iraq BV, and thanks to the development of the Zubair Field Development Project (Eni 41,56%, Kogas 23,75%, BOC 29,69%, State Partner 5%) has become one of the main operators in the oil sector of the country.