Early Warning cites a UPI story regarding Iraq's progress in building towards the 12 million barrels a day forecast by oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani over the next seven years:
Rumaila: Iraq's biggest field with the equivalent of 17.8 billion barrels of oil. That makes it the fourth largest oil field in the world. It contains around 15 percent of Iraq's oil. It is operated by BP and the China National Petroleum Corp.
Production is 1.052 million bpd and is expected to reach its initial production rate of 1.065 million bpd by the end of the year, Jafaar says. That's three years ahead of schedule.
West Qurna 1: Contains 8.7 billion barrels. Exxon Mobil of the United States and Royal Dutch Shell secured the production contract in 2009. Production has been slipping but is expected to hit the IPR of 285,000 bpd within a year.
West Qurna 2: Holds 12.9 billion barrels and is operated by a consortium headed by Russia's Lukoil and StatoilHydro of Norway. Peak production of 1.8 million bpd is expected by the end of 2012, sustainable for more than a decade.
Majnoon: With reserves of 12.6 billion barrels, this is one of the top Iraqi fields and lies near the border with Iran. It is operated by Royal Dutch Shell and Petronas, which say they have boosted production from a paltry 46,000 bpd to 70,000 bpd, rising eventually to 1.8 million bpd.
Zubair: Operated by a consortium of Italy's ENI, the U.S. Occidental Petroleum Corp. and the Korea Gas Corp. of South Korea. It has reserves of 4.1 billion barrels. Production is 200,000 bpd, up from 183,000 bpd in 2009. That's expected to eventually reach 1.2 million bpd.
Halfaya: Contains 4.1 billion barrels and is operated by the China National Petroleum Corp. Production is running at 3,600 bpd but potential output has been pegged as high as 535,000 bpd.
The Baghdad government expects production from just three of these fields -- Rumaila, West Qurna 2 and Zubair -- to hit 7 million bpd within six years.
Following the arrival of the foreign companies, with their advanced exploration and drilling equipment, including 3-D seismic surveys, Iraq was able to determine its reserves with much greater accuracy than in the past.
In October, Baghdad raised its proven oil reserves from 115 billion barrels to 143.1 billion barrels largely on the companies' upgraded assessments. That's an increase of 24 percent.
These snapshots of interactive maps from the Financial Times detail the oil auctions of 2009 in June and December:
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