Rosneft Discovers Oilfield in Iraq

Russia’s Rosneft has discovered a new oilfield in southwestern Iraq, the company said.  The first well in the field, named Salman, was drilled at over 4,000 meters and it tapped commercial amounts of crude, Rosneft said.  Drilling started in February 2017 and was supposed to be completed by July the same year, Oil Price reported. Rosneft acquired the rights to the Salman field when it bought smaller Russian oil producer Bashneft two years ago. Until recently, Rosneft was widely seen as a partner of Kurdistan Regional Government, which is still at odds with Baghdad. Last year, after an ill-fated independence referendum in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Rosneft stepped in to help the Kurdistan government by investing $3.5 billion in the management of the region’s biggest oil pipeline. Earlier in 2017, Rosneft provided a loan of $1.2 billion to KRG to help it fill a budget gap and committed another $400 million to oilfield exploration in the autonomous region.