Quick Facts
- Crescent Petroleum is the only international oil company to have had a continuous presence in Baghdad for almost 20 years.
- In 2005, Crescent Petroleum signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Oil Exploration Company (OEC) of Iraq, a division of Iraq’s Ministry of Oil. The agreement covers technical co-operation and training as well as an exploration and appraisal study on an area assigned for Crescent Petroleum by OEC in southern Iraq.
- A Joint Steering Committee for technical cooperation has also been set up between Crescent Petroleum and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil to facilitate and implement the terms of the MOU.
- Crescent Petroleum performed detailed studies and conducted negotiations with the Ministry of Oil for the development of the giant Ratawi oil field, in southern Iraq.
- In February 2023, Crescent Petroleum signed three long-term development contracts with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil to appraise, develop, and produce gas from two blocks in Diyala province and one development in southern Iraq. The Ministry of Oil activated the contracts in October 2023 and development of the block is ongoing.
Crescent Petroleum is fully committed to the development of opportunities across Iraq to support the redevelopment of the country. It is the only international oil company to have maintained a continuous presence in Iraq through its offices in Baghdad for almost 20 years. Additional offices have been set up in recent years in Erbil, Suleymania and Basra to support the growing operations of Crescent Petroleum in Iraq.
During the early and mid 90s, Crescent Petroleum was one of the select international oil companies encouraged to visit Baghdad to negotiate petroleum development contracts for ten giant undeveloped fields, each with indicated reserves between one and ten billion barrels (mainly in the south) and nine blocks in the Western Desert.
In 2005, Crescent Petroleum signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Oil Exploration Company (OEC) of Iraq, a division of Iraq’s Ministry of Oil, which was one of the first agreements of its kind with a Middle Eastern petroleum company. The MOU covers technical co-operation and training and includes an exploration and appraisal study on an area assigned for Crescent Petroleum by OEC in southern Iraq. A Joint Steering Committee for the implementation of this MOU was set up between Crescent Petroleum and Iraq’s Ministry of Oil. Under this MOU and during the period of the exploration study, Crescent Petroleum was engaged in the training of personnel from Iraq’s Ministry of Oil and its affiliate companies, for the strengthening of ties and the sharing of knowledge with the Ministry, in addition to providing full team participation to the Ministry throughout all phases of the study.
Crescent Petroleum has already carried out detailed studies on other areas in Iraq, notably the giant Ratawi oil field in southern Iraq, whose estimated reserves are over 10 billion barrels. The company performed detailed technical studies and proposed a fast-track development programme for Ratawi to develop the field within 18 months and achieve a plateau production of 250,000bbld and 300mmscfd of associated gas.
Ratawi is one of the major super-giant fields with over 10 billion barrels of oil in place that are earmarked for speedy development to boost the oil production capacity of Iraq.
Three new blocks
In 2018, Crescent Petroleum was awarded three blocks in Iraq’s fifth bidding round to appraise, develop, and produce gas from two blocks in Diyala province and one development in southern Iraq. 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 the 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. Development works on the projects is ongoing.
Crescent Petroleum is committed to meeting up to 90% Iraqi employment at its operations and will lead a variety of social performance projects to deliver training and capacity building, education, and social services support to benefit the residents of Diyala and the surrounding regions.
