en.Wedoany.com Reported - Iraq's Oil Exploration Company (OEC) has officially signed a seismic survey contract with China's Zhenhua Oil for the Abu Haima oil field in Muthanna Governorate, marking renewed cooperation between the two sides in Iraq's oil and gas exploration sector. The project is included in the overall framework of Iraq's 5th Supplementary Bid Round and 6th Licensing Round, representing an important part of practical energy cooperation between China and Iraq.
Iraq's Deputy Minister of Oil for Extraction Affairs, Nasser Aziz, stated at the signing ceremony that the core objective of this seismic survey is to obtain accurate and detailed seismic data from the oil field, providing scientific and authoritative technical support for regional geological structure analysis and oil and gas resource assessment, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of oil field resource evaluation. The results will lay a solid data foundation for the subsequent development, construction, and exploration block planning of the Abu Haima oil field, effectively increasing the probability of discovering new oil and gas reservoirs.
Nasser Aziz pointed out that the project holds both resource value and development significance, as it will help Iraq continuously expand its oil and gas reserves, strengthen the foundation of its energy industry, robustly support national economic production development, and continuously empower investment projects in various provinces and cities, activating regional industrial vitality. At the same time, this will further deepen Iraq's positive collaboration with international energy companies and optimize the opening-up pattern of the local oil and gas industry.
Zhenhua Oil has been deeply involved in Iraq's oil and gas resource development bidding work. In 2024, it successfully won two core exploration blocks in Iraq's 5th Supplementary Bid Round and 6th Oil and Gas Bidding Round, namely the southern Qurnan block and the Abu Haima block in Muthanna Governorate, continuously deepening its presence in the oil and gas resource-rich southern region of Iraq.
Previously, Zhenhua Oil's exploration in Iraq had already achieved significant results. In May of this year, the Qurnan block, operated by Zhenhua Oil, discovered 8.835 billion barrels of light crude oil reserves, with an initial daily production capacity of 3,248 barrels. This high-quality oil and gas reserve and production performance demonstrates Zhenhua Oil's exploration technology and project operation capabilities, and also lays a cooperative foundation for the advancement of the Abu Haima oil field project. With the implementation of the new project, resource development and cooperation in the Middle East region are expected to continue deepening.
