Iraq Drilling Company (IDC)

=Role=

The Iraq Drilling Company (IDC) is a state-owned company under the Iraqi Ministry of Oil which is located in Baghdad and Kirkuk and specializes in drilling and oil and gas well workovers. In 2006 it had 18 rigs in operation and employed 4,170 staff.

The IDC is divided in two departments: the Northern Operations Department and the Southern Operations Departments.

=History=

The IDC was formed as such in 1987, when the Iraq National Oil Company was disbanded.

The first joint venture in the post-Saddam Iraqi oil industry occurred with a deal was finalized in 2009 between the IDC and the Mesopotamia Petroleum Company, from the United Kingdom. The IDC also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint drilling and training opportunities with KCA DEUTAG, a British oil and gas service company, in 2010. Although the jointed venture with Mesopotamia Petroleum Company eventually failed, in 2011 the IDC won a contract to drill in the Rumalia oil field together with Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services provider.

In 2010 the IDC drilled 189 oil wells and planned to drill and rehabilitate 140 other wells over the course of 2011. In 2011 the IDC started to drill and repair wells in the Hamrin mountains for the first time in 21 years. The mountains, located to the north of Baghdad, had been a haven for insurgents, including al-Qaeda, following the 2003 occupation of the country.

= References =