A total of 19 oil and gas fields, including 48 reservoirs, were discovered over the past eight years, said the head of Exploration Department at the National Iranian Oil Company.
“As of 2014, 10 gas fields were discovered with total in-place reserves of 2 trillion cubic meters, as well as nine oilfields containing 60 billion barrels of in-place oil,” Seyyed Saleh Hendi was also quoted as saying by IRNA on Friday.
Elaborating on some of the provincial discoveries, Hendi added that the gas fields of Pazan in Fars, Khar-Tang in Bushehr and Charak in Hormozgan provinces, as well as Yadman and Sepehr oilfields in Khuzestan Province, are among the major deposits explored in the period.
The official noted that in-place gas reserves in Khar-Tang and Charak are estimated to be 453 billion cubic meters and 481 bcm, respectively.
“Projections show that Charak also has 174 million barrels of gas condensates,” he added.
On the geographical location of one of the new oilfields, Hendi said Yademan is located close to the Iraqi border in Khuzestan, but is not shared with the western Arab neighbor.
With an estimated 53 billion barrels of crude oil in place, Namavaran is the second largest oilfield discovered in Iran after the Asmari layer in Gachsaran, Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province, that was discovered in 1928 and holds 54 billion barrels of crude.
Namavaran straddles Bostan to Omidiyeh counties in Khuzestan and is nearly 2,400 km long and 80 meters deep.
The NIOC official said Eram Gas Field discovered in 2019 is estimated to hold 538 billion cubic meters of natural gas in place, of which over 368 bcm are recoverable.
The gas field is located 200 kilometers south of the provincial capital Shiraz and 60 km north of Asalouyeh. The find was made in a reservoir 3,900 meters below the earth’s surface.
Eram Gas Field capacity is almost equal to one of the phases of the giant South Pars Gas Field located in the Persian Gulf and situated on the maritime borders between Iran and Qatar. It covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, of which 3,700 square kilometers belong to Iran. It is estimated that the Iranian section of the major zone holds 14 tcm of gas and 18 billion barrels of condensates.
Iran uses natural gas for heating purposes and as feedstock for thermal power stations, which constitute more than 80% of its installed electricity generating capacity. Gas is also injected into underground reservoirs to increase crude oil recovery.
Iran (34 tcm) and Russia (32.6 tcm) hold the largest proven gas reserves in the world.
Surveys on hydrocarbon fields show Iran’s recoverable natural gas reserves have risen by 283 billion. In the past 40 years, 73 oil and gas fields have been discovered in Iran.
“They include 36 oilfields and 37 gas fields, 26 of them are joint fields,” Hendi said.
“Explorations are underway and there is a possibility of discovering more oil and gas fields across the country.”
With an estimated 157 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, Iran has the world’s fourth–largest oil reserves and the second-largest gas reserves.
Iran is priming its oil and gas fields -- and customer relationships -- so it can increase production and exports as it inches closer to an agreement with the world powers in Vienna to remove the US sanctions.
The NIOC has been ramping up production over the past few months following the change of guard in Washington and gradual recovery of global oil markets from the devastative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In its latest report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries put Iranian crude output in March at 2.3 million barrels per day indicating a 137,000-bpd increase compared to the previous month.
Based on OPEC data, Iran’s average crude output in the first quarter of 2021 was near 2.2 million barrels per day – almost 197,000-bpd higher rise compared to the last quarter of 2020.
