The Sarta field is an onshore oil field being developed in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Operated by Chevron, the Iraqi field produced the first oil in November 2020.
Chevron holds a 50% interest in the onshore oil field, while the other development partners are Genel Energy (30%), and the Kurdistan Regional Government (20%).
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The final investment decision (FID) on the Sarta Phase 1A project was reached in January 2019 and the construction works were started in the middle of the same year.
Chevron picked up an 80% working interest as well as the operatorship of the Sarta block from Reliance Exploration & Production DMCC, a subsidiary of India-based Reliance Industries, in July 2012. Genel Energy acquired a 30% stake in the Sarta block from Chevron in February 2019.
The Sarta production sharing contract (PSC) will expire in 2047.
Location and reservoir details
The Sarta block is spread in excess of 600km2 and it lies to the north of Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
The Phase 1A Sarta field development is estimated to contain approximately 34 million barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe) of gross 2P reserves.
Phase 1A development is focused on the Jurassic Mus-Adaiyah reservoirs. The individual tests conducted on Sarta-3 and Sarta-2 wells confirmed a flow rate of approximately 7,500 barrels per day (bpd) of oil.
Sarta field development details
The Sarta field currently produces from two wells, namely Sarta-3 and Sarta-2. Both the wells are connected to an early production facility with a processing capacity of 20,000 barrels of oil a day (bopd). The field also uses oil storage tanks.
The Phase 1A project started operations with the Sarta-3 well producing the first oil in November 2020, while the first liftings of oil from the field took place in the next month. The initial production by the Sarta-3 well is greater than 5,000bopd.
The Sarta-2 well also started production after the completion of workover operation in March 2021. The total production from the two wells in the field is over 10,000bpd. The production is expected to further increase with the optimisation of facilities.
The crude oil output of the field is transported by tankers to Khurmala where it is pumped into the oil pipeline.
Appraisal drilling campaign
The appraisal drilling campaign, which is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2021, is focused on the Jurassic Mus-Adaiyah-Butmah reservoir. The campaign includes the drilling of two additional wells, namely Sarta-5 and Sarta-6.
The re-entry well drilling will also be carried out in Sarta-1 (S-1D) well in order to increase the well depth in 2021. If the drilling is successful, the S-1D well is expected to start production in 2021.
The next phase of development of the Sarta field depends on the results from the early production phase and the appraisal drilling campaign.
Contracts awarded
Oilserv was awarded a contract for the construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of a central processing facility with a capacity of 20,000bpd of oil at the Sarta field by Chevron in September 2019. The central processing facility processes the crude oil produced by the Sarta field.
