Gazprom Neft on September 19, 2017, has shipped its 2nd and largest cargo of Iraqi crude to the US since the Badra field, its flagship overseas oil project, came on stream in 2014.
A cargo of 1.78 million barrels of Iraq crude was shipped to the US on the tanker New Solution, its largest clip of oil sent by sea to date.
According Platts, the New Solution loaded from Iraq's Basra Terminal in mid-August and left the terminal on August 21. It is currently destined for the US.
Gazprom Neft receives Iraqi crude as payment in kind for its development of the Badra field in eastern Iraq.
The field is connected to Iraq's southern export infrastructure and the crude sold through Iraq's State Oil Marketing Company, or SOMO.
In the 3 years of commercial crude production at Badra, the company's subsidiary Gazprom Neft Badra has produced more than 5 million barrels.
Prior to the latest stem, Gazprom Neft said it shipped 12 cargoes to European companies and refineries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The field currently produces 80,000 b/d of crude at its 14 wells, according to Gazprom Neft's March data, which followed the launch of 4 wells at the start of this year alone.
Badra's output is expected to nearly double to its updated plateau level of 150,000 b/d in 2018, up from the previously expected plateau of 115,000 b/d.
The Badra field, located in Iraq's Eastern province of Wasit, is estimated to hold 3 billion barrels of crude.
