Basra Oil Co,. the state-owned operator of the huge Majnoon field in Iraq, plans to boost production from it to 450,000 bpd by 2021 by drilling 40 new wells, Reuters reports , citing the Iraqi Oil Ministry. This would be more than double Majnoon’s current rate of production, which averages 240,000 bpd. The 40 new wells will be in addition to another 40, already contracted to Schlumberger last month. Basra Oil Co. took over Majnoon last year, after Shell, the previous operator of the field, called the project quits. There were reports of other foreign oil companies expressing interest in taking the reins from Shell, but eventually Majnoon ended up in local hands. Iraq had oil reserves of 153 billion barrels as of 2017, and in 2018 Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said the actual reserves could be twice as large. If the higher estimate proves true, it would make […]