Key water project advances, promising to unlock new oil capacity

A multi-billion-dollar water supply project that is critical for boosting production at Iraq’s southern oil fields is beginning to take shape, with a first phase scheduled for completion in four years.

After more than a decade of delays, the Common Seawater Supply Project (CSSP) is finally moving forward. It is one component of the $27 billion Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), which Iraq finalized with France’s TotalEnergies last July.

The first phase is now expected to be operational in 2028, according to multiple officials involved in the project. Five million barrels per day (bpd) of water taken from the Basra Gulf will be treated and pumped to fields in Basra, Missan, and Dhi Qar provinces for injection into reservoirs, helping to maintain pressure so fields can fight natural declines and rise to plateau targets.

“If we actually start work on the ground, with an accelerated plan during 2024, I expect that the fields will begin receiving water from the seawater project in 2027,” said one senior official at the state-run Basra Oil Company.

Two other BOC officials gave 2028 as a completion date for the first phase.