On November 28, the General Manager of Iraq's South Oil Company (SOC) and 7 of their top technical experts visited ZPEC for a week-long tour including site inspections and technical discussions. The General Manager of Group of Raban Al Safina – the important partner of ZPEC in Iraq market companied this visit. The purpose of the trip was to promote mutual understanding and friendship between the companies and to establish the foundation for further cooperation. 

Mr. Shi Shuyi, Vice President of ZPEC and General Manager of ZPEC Drilling, accompanied the guests on Nov. 30, to inspect the Team 15 drilling site in Sulige gas field, Inner Mongolia.  Not only did they observe the drilling operations from the drilling platform, but also carefully inspected the equipment and the new technology applications.  The fact that Team 15 would finish drilling 4,000 meters within one month was specifically impressive.  They also walked around the logging operational rooms and even into the living area in order to understand all of the details of ZPECs A to Z offerings.

On Dec. 2, the delegation visited the Shanghai ZPEC headquarters and manufacturing yard.  At the factory they were especially intrigued by our 70DZ rig with its human-oriented design and comprehensive equipment.  Consequently, ZPEC R&D Department engineers presented details of our new rig's ability to move rapidly from drilling site to drilling site and its 9 applied patents.  At headquarters, ZPEC drilling specialists presented details of the entire fleet of products and services including drilling, directional wells, logging services, etc.  Some of ZPEC's Drilling Records were very surprising to our guests, as they never thought Chinese drilling capabilities and technologies would have been ahead of Iraq's.

The SOC General Manager said that the visitation was a judicious choice and also a good beginning for both companies.  He thought that future cooperation had great potential and it was good to set up the strategic cooperative relationship.

Mr. Li, ZPEC President, appreciated the Iraqi experts' overview of their needs.  He pointed out ZPEC's focus on the mutual benefits principle for market exploration and, with Iraq's needs, ZPEC would send advanced equipment and the most talented technicians to provide superior services.  He pledged to be the best drilling engineering contractor in Iraq!

There is a common understanding that the Iraq oil industry always prefers petroleum equipment and engineering services from Western countries and with less investigation about China's capabilities. It has profound meaning that SOC and Group of Raban Al Safina’s top management gave a special visit to ZPEC.For they can have an overall understanding and take a proper evaluation on Chinese oil enterprises. It paves the way for the development of a multi-level and multi-domain cooperation.

Background:
South Oil Company (SOC) is a national Iraqi company responsible for the oil in the south of Iraq.  It is situated in Basrah, Iraq.  SOC is one of the major fundamental formations of the Iraq National Oil Company (INOC).