West Qurna Field

West Qurna (غرب قرنة) is one of Iraq's largest oil fields, located north of Rumaila field, 65 km northwest of Basra. West Qurna is believed to hold 43 Goilbbl of recoverable reserves – making it one of the biggest oil fields in the world. Until 2009, the field was closed to Western firms.

West Qurna Phase I
In November 2009, an ExxonMobil - Shell joint venture won a $50 billion contract to develop the 9 Goilbbl West Qurna Phase I. As per Iraqi Oil Ministry estimates, the project will require a $25 billion investment and another $25 billion in operating fees creating approximately 100,000 jobs in the underdeveloped southern region. ExxonMobil is set to increase the current production of 0.27 to 2.25 Moilbbl/d within seven years. The Iraqi government, in turn, will pay $1.90 per barrel produced by ExxonMobil-Shell alliance. In November 2023, PetroChina took over as main operator of West Qurna 1, replacing ExxonMobil.

West Qurna Phase II
In December 2009, Russia's Lukoil and Norway's Statoil were awarded the rights to develop the 12.88 Goilbbl  West Qurna Phase II oil field. The Lukoil-Statoil alliance will receive $1.15 per barrel that they produce. In addition, they will work to raise output from West Qurna 2 to 120000 oilbbl/d by 2012 and 1.8 Moilbbl/d over a period of 13 years. In March 2012, Statoil sold its 18.75% stake in the field to Lukoil, giving the Russian firm a 75% stake, and leaving the Iraqi state oil company with 25%.

In 2023 Lukoil announced it is planning to double the production of oil from the West Qurna Field 2, to 800,000 bpd.

Water-injection project
A new joint multibillion-dollar water-injection project will be awarded to operator ExxonMobil. The project includes construction of a plant which will help 6 major oil-field development projects by producing 10 - 12 Moilbbl of water per day. The alliance will include Shell, Eni, Lukoil, CNPC and Petronas.