Iraq to resume oil exploration after 20 year pause

By Wisam Mohammed

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will resume searching for oil on Friday for the first time in two decades, the oil ministry said on Thursday, in the hope of finding vast reserves that lay undiscovered because of sanctions and war.

Iraq has 115 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the third largest in the world, but the government believes the country's actual oil reserves may be three times as high.

Asim Jihad, spokesman for Oil Ministry, said it had trained three teams of geophysicists, geologists and engineers and would kick off exploration in the Gharraf field in Nassiriya in southern Iraq on Friday.

"Tomorrow, the equipment will be turned on to start the first oil exploration for 20 years, at a ceremony which will be attended by the oil minister and senior officials," Jihad said on Thursday.

Jihad said Iraq had only used about a fifth of the country's 500 possible oil-producing sites and they needed to explore more to try and confirm potential reserves.

"These three teams are part of a group the oil ministry formed to renew exploration activity in order to change the unconfirmed reserves to confirmed ones," he said.

The first team will carry out seismic tests on the Gharraf field using up-to-date technology supplied by international companies, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters in April he had seen estimates from "reputable companies" that put Iraq's oil reserves at some 350 billion barrels, a massive figure which would put the country ahead of Saudi Arabia.