The oil-producing subsidiary of Russian state gas giant Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, has announced that it plans to launch a fourth well at the Sarqala field in Iraq’s semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan (KRI) in the first half of 2021. Not only will this consolidate its own foothold in the KRI but it will also do the same for Russia in the semi-autonomous region, following the effective takeover of its oil and gas pipelines in November 2017. It will also further open up the way for the exploitation of greater synergies for Russia across the whole of Iraq. In basic terms, the fourth well is intended to increase crude oil production at the Sarqala field to at least 32,000 barrels per day (bpd), from the current 24,000 bpd, according to Gazprom Neft, following the launch of first production in 2011 and commercial oil shipments commencing in 2015. Gazprom Neft itself has […]