Qatar to increase production substantially

Qatar is planning to explore, drill and develop 202 new oil and gas wells within its territorial waters over the next five years at an estimated cost of $ 5 billion.The opening up of the new wells will dramatically increase Qatar's oil output and further tap the mammoth reserves of natural gas in the North field. At present, there are 288 oil and 16 gas-producing wells in Qatar.
"We submitted an ambitious plan to QGPC's board of directors in August last year to drill 177 new wells. However, following seismic studies, carried out at a few of the offshore oil fields, this figure has been increased to 202," the official said. QGPC has approved the revised plan and will soon begin drilling. The QGPC official said the largest drilling project would be at the offshore Al Shaheen oil field, currently being operated by the Danish company, Maersk Oil. He said 69 wells would be drilled in the first phase of developing the Al Shaheen concession, where the daily output of crude was targeted to reach 120,000 b/d. The field is currently producing about 40,000 b/d.