Crescent Petroleum held the world record in the early 1990s for drilling the world’s deepest short radius horizontal well and the deepest slim hole to be cased by expandable casing. Crescent also set a regional operational record in completing the complex Mubarek K2 well, with a highly challenging programme involving horizontal drilling combined with coiled tubing technology and a complex completion matrix at great depths.
Crescent Petroleum also takes pride in its reputation for agility, operational excellence and ability to bring fields on-stream in record time, while diligently maintaining strict cost efficiency. The Mubarek Field discovery wildcat was drilled in 1972, with field development being put on fast track mode and completed in a record period of 13 months from the discovery confirmation well, to full production at a rate of over 60,000 bopd. This set a world record for the time of the time taken to bring an offshore field on-stream from first discovery.
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Crescent along with its affiliate Dana Gas, entered into Strategic Alliance Protocol with Kurdistan Regional Government in 2007 to appraise, develop, process, market and sell petroleum from the Khor Mor and Chemchemal Gas Fields. The first phase was to provide natural gas supplies to fuel two major domestic electric power generation plants being built in Erbil and Chemchemal, as well as for local industries and export. First Gas production from Kor Mor and delivery to two local power stations commenced in October 2008, 18 months after contract signature in April 2007.
In the ensuing 15 years, the project has delivered uninterrupted, affordable energy at scale to the KRI, making a considerable impact on the region’s economy, society, and environment. Capital investment in the project’s infrastructure and day-to-day operations has sustained significant economic activity in the KRI. Ultimately, the project’s most significant economic contribution, by far, is the gas provided to fuel the KRI’s electricity grid.
In 2018, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas celebrated the tenth anniversary of production operations and in 2019 signed a 20-year Gas Sales Agreement with the KRG to enable production and sales of an additional 250 MMSCF/day to boost local electricity generation, significantly expanding current production (“KM250 project”).
In 2022, Crescent Petroleum reported record sales gas production reaching 452 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/d) at the end of 2020, the culmination of numerous process improvements at the Khor Mor plant, including a bypass project completed in 2020 as well as a debottlenecking programme completed in 2018. Together, the process improvements have grown the production by 50% from 305 MMscf/d in 2018.
Current gas production is approximately 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BoE) per day, comprising gas, condensate, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). At the end of 2021, gas comprised approximately 80% of total production from the Khor Mor plant. Total production since inception in 2007 to the end of 2021 is approximately 360 million Barrels of Oil equivalent, with total capital investment amounting to $2.6 billion during the 14-year period.
In 2019 Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas signed a 20-year Gas Sales Agreement with the KRG to enable production and sales of an additional 250 MMSCF/day to boost local electricity generation, significantly expanding the current 460 MMSCF/day production. A major oil and gas services provider was appointed in January 2020 to lead the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the first of two 250 MMSCF/day gas processing trains at the plant, which together will more than double production capacity, with further plans for a third train to be added within several years. However, two issues have impacted the development and timeline of the project:
The COVID-19 pandemic, which particularly impacted the supply chain of the EPC contract and local site access for the preparatory construction work. Movement restrictions and other disruptions forced the EPC contractor and the joint operators to take all commercially reasonable steps to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, causing delays in the delivery of the project. The operator resumed work on the civil engineering works for the expansion project in December 2020.
Then in June and July 2022, five small rockets landed within the Khor Mor block, resulting in indirect minor injuries of two workers on site. There was no damage to facilities and production operations continued as normal. However, construction works on the KM250 site were temporarily suspended as security improvements were being put in place.
In September 2021, Crescent Petroleum became one of the first companies in the industry to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations after completing a series of projects to reduce carbon intensity and offset remaining emissions. The milestone was the culmination of years of effort to improve total process efficiencies and become one of the least carbon-intensive companies in the energy sector. The company had for some years been shifting focus to natural gas which now makes up c.80% of its total production and has reduced gas flaring by nearly 80% to just 0.12% of production currently, with plans to further reduce it towards zero going forward. These process improvements have allowed Crescent Petroleum to achieve a carbon intensity of 6.0 kgCO2e/boe.
In September 2021, Crescent Petroleum became one of the first companies in the industry to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations after completing a series of projects to reduce carbon intensity and offset remaining emissions. The milestone was the culmination of years of effort to improve total process efficiencies and become one of the least carbon-intensive companies in the energy sector. The company had for some years been shifting focus to natural gas which now makes up c.80% of its total production and has reduced gas flaring by nearly 80% to just 0.12% of production currently, with plans to further reduce it towards zero going forward. These process improvements have allowed Crescent Petroleum to achieve a carbon intensity of 6.0 kgCO2e/boe, which is less than one third of the industry average. The company offset the remaining emissions from its operations with carbon credits to support renewable wind power projects in China and Mongolia, supporting cleaner electricity that would normally be generated by burning coal and achieving carbon neutrality across its operations. And its own regional gas production over the past decade has also enabled the avoidance of c.49 million tonnes of CO2 by replacing diesel with gas to generate power, equivalent to removing 1 million cars off the road.
In February 2023 the company signed two 20-year contracts with the Midland Oil Company for the development of the Khashim Ahmer-Injana and Gilabat-Qumar fields, as well as a third 20-year contract with the Basra Oil Company for exploration of the Khider Al-Mai field.
In October 2023 the Ministry of Oil activated the contracts for the Khashim Ahmer-Injana and Gilabat-Qumar fields in Diyala Governorate, as well as exploration and drilling efforts at the Khider Al-Mai block in Basra Governorate.
Development of the blocks marks a major expansion of Crescent Petroleum’s operational footprint and activities within Iraq. The company has begun fast-track development of the Khashim Ahmer-Injana block in Diyala, and development activities will commence at the Gilabat-Qumar block, also in Diyala. The company will then oversee exploration and drilling efforts at the Khider Al-Mai block in Basra Governorate.