Close teamwork

陈小将

"The Chinese collaborate closely with both international and local employees. We are akin to three differently sized cogwheels, where only through close cooperation can we ensure efficient operation," said Guan Lei from the maintenance department. He leads a team of nearly 300 workers and he is the sole Chinese within the team.

In the new year, the successive commissioning of four key projects will contribute to the increase in production capacity by 200,000 barrels a day.

Cai Kaiping, the project's subsurface manager, said, "We expect production capacity to reach 800,000 barrels per day by 2028 and 1 million barrels per day by 2030, and in the next phase, production capacity will reach 1.2 million barrels per day by 2035."

"We value the friendship formed in our work. We once took our Iraqi colleagues to visit the oilfields in Daqing, China's largest onshore oilfield, and the garden-like environment left a profound impression on them, strengthening their confidence in cooperating with us," he said.

Green development has also been a major feature of West Qurna 1 since the transition began.

On Dec 17, the DS6 degassing station of West Qurna 1 successfully eliminated most of the "black smoke" from burning associated gas. It was seen by many locals as one of the key green achievements after the CNPC took over the oilfield.

Hasan Hanoon, 35, an engineer in the operation department, said the smoke used to seriously affect local residents in the area. The Iraqi, who is married with three children, said the job helps his family to have a decent life in Iraq.

"Since joining the Chinese enterprise, I have felt the changes in the oilfield, and admired China's speed, strength and spirit," he said, adding that he has also learned more about the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

"Iraq-China cooperation has not only improved our lives. More importantly, it has opened up more possibilities for our future development."