The huge drilling programme has seen 573 new oil-producing wells access the Main Pay, Upper Shale and Mishrif reservoirs. These new wells have been – and continue to be – crucial to the field’s oil production. A further 74 new water injector wells and 91 produced water disposal wells have also been drilled.

High angle wells have also been used for the first time in the field’s history, allowing drilling to commence at an angle or horizontally across the formation.

Maximizing production from existing wells is also crucial. More than 1,698 workovers have been completed to renew old and underperforming wells to keep them flowing and to bring ceased wells back into production.

Activities include:

• 514 Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) currently in operation – increasingly powered by the Rumaila Power Plant
• hundreds of wells upgraded with chrome tubing to prevent corrosion
• advanced tools used for acid stimulation, leak detection and fishing tasks to improve well bore effectiveness.

Smart coil units and mast coil units undertake a range of jobs without the need to erect workover rigs – a costly and time-expensive process. More than 80,000 ‘rigless’ well service jobs have been completed since 2010 to:

• slow reservoir depletion by stimulating and re-perforating wells
• re-energize ceased wells through nitrogen lifting.