Iran to extract 1m barrel more crude from joint fields

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh underlined on Tuesday that the ministry has started execution of its 4-year-long plan to extract one million barrels per day (bpd) more oil from joint fields with the neighboring countries. "We have started our activity for a one-billion-barrel increase in crude oil production capacity from our joint fields in the coming four years. If this objective is realized, Iran’s petroleum industry will register its biggest eve bargaining chip,” Zanganeh said at the inauguration ceremony of Tehran Oil and Gas Show. He said the planned increase will create proper conditions for drillers, manufacturers of wellhead and downhole equipment and other service providers. Late in January, Deputy Oil Minister Roknoddin Javadi stressed the need for the development of the hydrocarbon fields Iran shares with the neighboring countries. Javadi, who is also the managing-director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said the company is prioritizing the development of shared fields, which has been delayed due to certain restrictions. He said that onshore and offshore joint fields are producing 252,000 b/d of oil and 283 mcm/d of gas. Javadi said accelerating the development of joint fields for further production is the top priority of NIOC. According to the managing-director of NIOC, Iran has adopted enhanced oil recovery methods in a bid to increase recovery from the shared fields. “Using downhole pumps, gas lifting, slant drilling and acidizing are among methods used for enhanced recovery from joint fields.” Javadi said. The official stated that exploration activities for assessing hydrocarbon potentials in offshore and onshore zones are among NIOC plans.