The second exploration well in Yalda field is being drilled, the National Iranian Oil Company’s exploration director said.
The well drilling is in line with NIOC’s exploration plans in the Persian Gulf for new oil and gas reservoirs.
Discovered two years ago, Yalda was initially considered an oilfield, but as more information was gained from the field, “we think it is likely that the field contains both gas and oil,” Mehdi Fakour was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
Yalda Oilfield is located 30 kilometers east of the South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf in southern Iran.
The proximity to South Pars has many advantages and helps accelerate the process of starting production from the oilfield.
Noting that there are 14 oil and gas exploration blocks in the country, Fakour said, “According to the studies of international organizations, while many countries in the region will complete their explorations in the near future, Iran, Russia and Iraq will continue explorations, which will help them raise oil and gas production.”
Pointing to Iran's sedimentary basins in the south of Zagros, he added that the amount of hydrocarbons they have considered for Iran is equivalent to 16 billion barrels.
Fakour noted that Iran’s oil and gas exploration projects are underway in the northern and southern regions, in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.
Due to the abundance of gas resources in southern Iran, officials have been rather indifferent and averse to exploration and expansion of oilfields in the northern regions. However, NIOC has recently shown special interest in Caspian energy resources.
The Caspian region has long attracted the attention of the international community due to its rich hydrocarbon resources as well as its strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, which can be used, inter alia, for the construction of trans-Caspian energy pipelines planned to deliver the region's hydrocarbon reserves to Europe.
Iran is conducting exploratory drilling in the new areas of Caspian Sea with the aim of finding new fields.
The region, which includes Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Iran, is one of the oldest oil-producing areas in the world and an increasingly important source of global energy production. The area has significant oil and natural gas reserves from both offshore deposits in the sea and onshore fields in the region.
Traditionally an oil-producing area, the Caspian area’s importance as a natural gas producer is fast growing. Offshore fields account for 41% of total Caspian crude oil and gas condensate (19.6 billion barrels) and 36% of natural gas (106 trillion cubic feet).
In general, most of the offshore oil reserves are in the northern parts of the sea, while most of the offshore natural gas reserves are in the southern regions.
