Oil production at West Qurna-2 began in 2014 and has now reached a daily level of 400 thousand barrels. Water injection is a priority because it prevents reservoir pressure from dropping prematurely, thereby maintaining planned production levels in the long term.

The oilfield’s location allows LUKOIL to use water from the adjacent Dammam reservoir, which is located 1060-1130 meters underground. West Qurna-2’s Mishrif hydrocarbon-bearing formation is located 2600-2800 meters underground.

A secondary opening of the Dammam reservoir will allow water to flow into the oil well due to natural pressure caused by the difference in depth. This technology will save the company money by avoiding the unnecessary drilling and maintenance costs of additional water wells.

The technology has only been implemented at one well so far – WQ2-113. Another three are planned for 2019. The technology has been approved by the Basra Oil Company and the coming year should provide a better estimate of its economic value.

Anton Gusev, Field Planning & Programming Engineer (Integrated Operations Center):

“This technology has been already been studied well, but it hasn’t been applied in Iraq yet. The key is controlling the processes going on at the reservoir and quickly reacting to changes in the technological parameters.”

LUKOIL Mid-East Ltd. shouldn’t have any problems with this: the LIFE-field real-time production management system has been functioning successfully at West Qurna-2 for years.