BEIJING: Sitting in his well-furnished home in Kut, in Iraq’s Wasit province, 41-year-old Iraqi oil production engineer Hadi Obaid Mery said he is grateful to China ZhenHua Oil for changing his fate and helping him create a more dignified life for his family.
“I lived in a clay house in a remote village as a child,” he told Chinese journalists in a recent online interview. “Dad passed away when I was eight, and my family was in financial straits. “My brothers had to quit school and work to support the family. Only I continued my schooling at Baghdad University, the highest academic institution in Iraq.”
His fortunes turned around in October 2010, when he was employed by the Wasit-based Al Waha Petroleum company, a joint venture between ZhenHua Oil and PetroChina, that is developing the Ahdeb oilfield in Iraq.
He is now a qualified oil extraction engineer, managing over 100 local employees.
Beijing-headquartered ZhenHua Oil, established in 2003, is involved in the operation of two oil fields in Iraq — Ahdeb and East Baghdad.
Located 180 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Ahdeb has a peak annual crude oil production of more than 7 million metric tons. Jointly operated by ZhenHua Oil and PetroChina, it was officially put into operation in June 2011.
The East Baghdad oilfield, also located southeast of the Iraqi capital, is operated by ZhenHua Oil, which signed its oilfield development and production service contract with Iraq’s Ministry of Oil in May 2018.The project is expected to produce 4 million tons of crude oil a year. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
