Mature fields
The fields have produced for decades, so work centres on rehabilitation, maintenance and well work; a BP redevelopment contract was finalised in 2025.
Kirkuk is the centre of northern Iraq's oil industry; the Baba Gurgur discovery in 1927 launched exports from the Kirkuk field. The Baba and Avanah domes and the adjacent Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz fields are operated by the North Oil Company. A rugged smartphone distributor in Kirkuk would carry the IS-04Z1 to these buyers once certification completes.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Kirkuk has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. A buyer's engineering review is separate from the certificate. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Ingress protection | IP65 to IP68 sealing | IP68 design |
| Drop and shock | A stated drop height onto concrete | Specification on request |
| Explosion protection | A separate certificate and marking | In progress; not issued |
| Where it applies | Kirkuk: Wellheads and gathering stations, Gas processing, Crude pumping and pipeline facilities | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Kirkuk. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The companies on site and the hazardous-area types a handset is likely to meet there.
The fields have produced for decades, so work centres on rehabilitation, maintenance and well work; a BP redevelopment contract was finalised in 2025.
Access to oilfield sites is normally by operator-issued permit, so plan visits and deliveries ahead.
Kirkuk field was discovered at Baba Gurgur in 1927 and brought into production in 1934 when export pipelines were completed, and it has remained the most important part of northern Iraq's output.
The field had over 10 billion barrels of proven remaining reserves in 1998, so it is a mature, large-scale operation with legacy infrastructure.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan crude pipeline runs about 970 km to the Turkish coast with two lines of 46 and 40 inches and a combined design capacity of 1.5 million barrels a day, making it Iraq's largest export line.
Iraq's winters are cooler and wetter, with average temperatures around 10 degrees Celsius, and the north sometimes falls below freezing.
A rugged phone is built to survive water, dust, drops and rough handling, usually rated by an IP code and a drop specification. Ruggedness is an environmental property: it says nothing about whether a phone may be used where flammable gas or dust is present. That is decided by explosion-protection certification and marking.
The IS-04Z1 combines both: an IP68 sealed rugged build and a design for Zone 1 and Zone 21 (marking target Ex ib IIC T4). The explosion-protection certificates are in progress and none has been issued.
In Kirkuk. Kirkuk has a hot semi-arid climate, with extremely hot, dry summers and mild, moderately wet winters. IP68 is designed to protect against dust and immersion, which suits dusty field tracks and the odd wet spell, but it is not explosion protection. Check the thermal range and temperature class for summer use.
SAMS is appointing authorised distributors ahead of the Q4 2026 launch. No territory has been granted for Kirkuk yet and applications are reviewed company by company. Because a certified Ex device cannot be opened by an ordinary phone workshop without invalidating its certificate, SAMS looks for partners who can provide competent technical support and after-sales service locally.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
There is no list price yet. SAMS gives indicative pre-launch pricing in writing, against a stated quantity and site, and does not commit to a lead time before certification completes.
It is designed to IP68 sealing, with glove-friendly controls. Ruggedness is not explosion protection: that depends on the certificates, which are in progress.
Likely candidates are wellheads and gathering stations, gas processing, crude pumping and pipeline facilities. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Kirkuk.
BP signed a preliminary agreement for four Kirkuk-region fields, with a profit-sharing model reported. The detailed timing and scope depend on final contracts, so check status with the operator.
Oil wells, gathering stations, separators, storage tanks, and gas processing and flare systems across the Kirkuk, Bai Hassan, Jambur and Khabbaz fields. Zones are set by the operator for each facility.
The equipment depends on the area classification, not the age of the field. Rehabilitation and well work may open or alter classified areas, so the operator's current zone drawings apply. Ask the operator for them before selecting a device, whatever the field's history.
Related guides for Kirkuk and for Iraq.
Tell us what you need to equip and where. The SAMS team answers by email with the datasheet and where each certification route stands.
Name the site and the operator and we will send what is available before launch.