British oilfield services company Petrofac said it has secured a contract worth $75 million from South Oil Company (SOC) for its Iraq Crude Oil Export Expansion Project (ICOEEP).

The one-year contract, with a one-year option, was awarded following a competitive tender and Petrofac, as the incumbent, plans to build on its four-year track record of safe and successful delivery on behalf of SOC.

Under the new agreement, Petrofac will continue to facilitate a substantial proportion of Iraq’s oil export which is generated from the facility located 60 km offshore the Al Fao Peninsula in Southern Iraq.

The company’s principal role is to provide operations and maintenance services for the export facilities, comprising the central metering and maintenance platform and four Single Point Moorings, and the loading of the tankers for onward transportation.

Mani Rajapathy, the managing director (Engineering & Production Services East) at Petrofac, said: "Over the last four years we’ve achieved some significant milestones on this project, including the export of more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil."

"We have remained focused on adding value for our client through the deployment of innovative and differentiated solutions and on working safely in a complex operating environment," noted Rajapathy.

"Earlier this year the teams celebrated achieving five million man-hours worked without a lost time incident which is testament to the safety culture that has been created on the project," he stated.

Hayan A. Abdulzahra, the director general, Southern Oil Company, said from the beginning of its relationship with Petrofac, the company has been aligned to its goals to significantly increase production from the ICOEEP facility.

"This has been realised through the team’s continued focus on operational excellence and safe and innovative project execution. I look forward to continuing to meet our safety and export milestones with Petrofac as our partner," he added.-TradeArabia News Service