A 1% increase in crude recovery rate will raise Iran’s oil extraction capacity by 800 million barrels, the former managing director of Central Iranian Oil Fields Company said.
“Iran is sitting on an estimated 800 billion barrels of oil and condensates in place, of which only 239 billion barrels are recoverable at the current recovery rate that stands at 25%,” Ramin Hatami was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
In other words, if the recovery factor reaches 26%, the National Iranian Oil Company will be able to add 800 million barrels to its present withdrawal capacity, he added.
Recovery factor is the ratio of technically and economically recoverable reserves to the total amount of oil in a reservoir.
Iran has 358 oil and gas reservoirs, including 195 undeveloped fields.
"We need to implement enhanced recovery techniques to raise output from more than 70% of our reservoirs," he added.
According to NIOC data, Iran’s in-place oil in the Persian Gulf amounts to 100 billion barrels, some 16 billion barrels of which are recoverable.
"Despite the fact that we have made major breakthroughs in primary recovery methods, namely fluid expansion, rock compressibility, gravitational drainage and natural water flow or gas drive, we still cannot benefit from secondary recovery methods or improved oil recovery [IOR] techniques, nor are we able to apply tertiary recovery methods or enhanced oil recovery [EOR]," the former official said.
The main difference between IOR and EOR is that the latter is used to recover mostly immobile oil that remains in the reservoir after the application of the former.
Referring to such use in domestic fields, Hatami said only primary recovery methods have been applied in several reservoirs, namely Azar Oilfield in the western Ilam Province, yielding positive results. The only project undertaken with the help of EOR was in Darkhovin Oilfield in the south.
Established in 1999, ICOFC has three subsidiaries, namely West Oil and Gas Production Company, East Oil and Gas Production Company and South Zagros Oil and Gas Production Company.
Cutting-Edge Technologies
Mohammad Esmaeil Kefayati, the head of the Oil Industry Technology and Innovation Park, noted that using cutting-edge technologies of startups, it is possible to enhance oil and gas output capacity from hydrocarbon reserves.
“Several contracts will be concluded with NIOC soon to increase production level from wells whose output has declined. More than 500 knowledge-based firms are active in oil, gas and petrochemical sectors and taking advantage of their prowess can help reduce costs in the key industry,” he said.
Kefayati said plans are underway to link startups with local oil and gas firms so that they can help minimize the risk of ventures like applying EOR and IOR techniques that are crucial for increasing production.
Oilfield exploitation process can be divided into four stages, the last of which is characterized by a rather slow and gradual decline in oil production.
There are more than 5,500 oil and gas wells in 400 oil and gas fields of the country, some of which are in the last stages of development, which are associated with a number of challenges during the production and operation of reservoir fluids. The fluctuation in temperature and pressure and assessment of oil production rates are typical at this stage.
The official pointed out that drawing on the capabilities of knowledge-based companies, NIOC will be able to increase the annual production capacity to more than 80 million barrels of oil.
“The government is planning to offer tax and customs exemptions to high-tech firms, ease the cumbersome process of issuing commercial licenses, cut social security insurance costs, reduce the obligatory military service duration [for tech enthusiasts] and help empower innovative businesses,” he said.
According to Iran’s Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, affiliated with the Oil Ministry, two knowledge-based companies have recently signed contracts with RIPI to inject new technologies in the petrochemical sector.
