The field development plan (FDP) for the Akri-Bijeel Block in Kurdistan has been officially approved by the Minister for Natural Resources, according to a press release from MOL Group. Key terms of the related lifting agreement and pipeline construction agreement are under discussion with the Ministry of Natural Resources. The FDP relates to two commercial discovery areas in the Akri-Bijeel block, the Bijell and the Bakrman areas.

MOL Kalegran Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of MOL, has been operating in Kurdistan since 2007 and is the operator of the Akri-Bijeel Block. The operator announced two commercial discoveries in the block. The FDP is based on these two discovery areas—Bijell area and Bakrman area. The development will be done in two phases: Phase I’s objective is to allow the operator to better determine key factors such as the reserves base, recovery factor, optimum surface facility design and overall field development cost. Phase I will start immediately with four drilling rigs and one workover rig to help reduce the overall timeline with front-end-loading wherever possible for Phase II.