Fire cuts crude output at Iraq's Rumaila field by 300,000 b/d: source

A fire at Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield was brought under control Jan. 24, hours after it started, causing a temporary 300,000 b/d hit to production that could last for days, according to a senior official at state-run SOMO.

In a statement on social media, the ministry of oil said the fire broke out in one of the tanks at the fifth gas station in Northen Rumaila.

"The rapid response from the firefighting and safety teams, which isolated the damaged valve due to the fire and cooled the neighboring units, significantly contributed to controlling and extinguishing the fire in a record time," the statement said.

The blaze began after crude was introduced into the second tank at the DS5 station, which had recently completed maintenance work, the ministry said, adding that it occurred "due to technical reasons that have not yet been determined".

There were no serious injuries, and the station will resume operations once the damage is assessed, it added.

However, a senior SOMO official, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said production had temporarily fallen by 300,000 b/d as a result of the fire. It was not clear how long the shutdown would last, but the source said it could be "a couple of days".

In a statement of its own, the Basra Energy Company Ltd, a joint venture between BP and PetroChina, said it was "working with and supporting the Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO), the operator of the Rumaila field, to respond to a tank fire which occurred at 11 am this morning at one of the Rumaila oil field's degassing stations."

The company added: "All personnel have been accounted for, and ROO has mobilized emergency response teams."

Representatives at BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the production impact.

According to estimates from S&P Global Commodity Insights, the Rumaila field produces around 1.1 million b/d of crude. It is located some 50 km southwest of Basra, Iraq's key oil hub.

According to BP's website, the field is estimated to hold 17 billion barrels of recoverable oil and saw peak production of over 1.5 million b/d after 2010.

The oil-dependent Middle Eastern country, a core member of the OPEC producer group, pumped 4.07 million b/d of crude in December, according to the Platts OPEC Survey from S&P Global Commodity Insights, slightly above its 4 million b/d production quota.

Asia-bound Basrah Medium crude was last assessed by Platts, a unit of Commodity Insights, at $82.90/b on Jan. 24.