Geological studies on Iranian oilfields show the country can boost proven oil reserves by at least 10% in the future, the deputy for engineering and development at the National Iranian Oil Company said.
“Fortunately, studies carried out on aged and newly-discovered oilfields indicate that we can enhance Iran’s recoverable crude reserves by at least 10% in the future,” Gholamreza Manouchehri was also quoted as saying by Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news agency, on Saturday.
The state-owned company has commissioned many domestic and international firms to study the geological characteristics of Iranian oilfields and estimate their in-place and recoverable resources.
According to the Oil & Gas Journal, Iran has an estimated 158 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, representing almost 10% of the world’s crude reserves and 13% of reserves held by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Manouchehri was speaking at the Iran E&P 2018 and the Fifth International Iranian Drilling Congress and Exhibition (Iran Drilling 2018), which are being held simultaneously at Iran's International Conference Center in Tehran.
Referring to Iran’s new framework for oil contracts, dubbed Iran Petroleum Contract, as one of the main levers of developing the oil industry, the official noted that IPC cannot solve all the problems on its own and the move toward progress should also be energetically made.
Tehran is offering multinationals more attractive terms for cooperation and investment in its key oil and gas sector, including higher fee on every barrel of oil produced from riskier projects and extended 20-25 year contracts.
--- Domestic E&P Firms
Manouchehri stressed the importance of empowering Iranian upstream contractors in the development of oil industry, adding that local exploration and production companies have made significant progress in the past few years, such that the sector can rely on them in expansion projects.
“Vetting internal E&P companies and helping them develop are high on the agenda of the Oil Ministry and NIOC,” he said.
According to Manouchehri, in addition to attracting foreign investment, the ministry is pursuing policies such as providing investments from sources like financial funds, banks and small investors.
Iran's petroleum sector needs $200 billion in new investments, most of which are expected to come from foreign sources.
"The process of holding engineering, procurement, construction and financing tenders is planned to proceed more seriously from early next fiscal that starts on March 21," he said.
Years of economic restrictions imposed over Tehran's nuclear program deprived Iran's key petroleum industry from finance and technology.
Iran was once the second-largest producer of OPEC, but slipped to sixth place under the spell of sanctions.
During the international sanctions regime, Iran's oil output and exports stood at 2.5 and 1 million per day respectively.
It has boosted the production of crude oil and condensates to 3.8 million barrels per day after the international sanctions were eased in early 2016.
According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the country shipped around 777 million barrels of crude oil and 180 million barrels of condensates last year, averaging 2.62 million bpd.
