The first well in the development plan of Maroun 1 and 4 oilfields has started production, the head of the North Drilling Company of Iran said.
“The well has a production capacity of 1,500 barrels per day. Two more wells have been drilled and will soon begin production,” Morteza Pakravan was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news service.
The drilling of the wells is part of the project to maintain and increase the production of 28 fields managed by the National Iranian South Oil Company.
Maroun Oilfield is the second-largest oilfield of Iran. Discovered in 1963, the field contains an estimated recoverable oil reserves of 22 billion barrels, making it the world's sixth biggest onshore oilfield in the world. It is currently producing approximately 520,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
NISOC is responsible for the development of 28 oilfields in the southern and southwestern oil-rich regions.
The largest subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company, NISOC is presently producing an average of 1.5 million barrels per day of crude oil.
Regular repair and maintenance of aging oil wells in the southern oil-rich regions have increased crude production capacity by 85,000 barrels per day this year.
Repair of wells is of great importance in the oil and gas industry, as a malfunction in wells leads to a significant reduction in flow rate or a full cessation of work.
The reason for the termination or reduction of production may be due to the failure of ground or underground equipment, a change of reservoir conditions, the termination of gas or power supply and other factors.
The main thing in the repair of oil and gas wells is the quality of well casing and insulation of productive reservoirs, prevention and/or troubleshooting of underground part of the equipment and/or the wellbore, preventing gas emissions that can lead to even more clogging of the porous medium and consequently, the subsequent reduction of the reservoir productivity.
Despite decades of sanctions and limited investment, Iran remains one of the 10 largest oil producers in the world, ranking eighth after the US, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Canada, Iraq, China and the UAE.
Iran sits on the world’s fourth-largest proven oil reserves after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada. It also accounts for 17% of global gas reserves and ranks second after Russia.
A higher output has been planned in view of the country’s oil reserves, as Iran holds about 1,200 billion barrels of oil equivalent underground, which include reserves of crude oil, natural gas and gas condensate.
Operations are underway to develop several oilfields to increase crude output capacity in the country.
The fields include South Azadegan and Nargesi oilfields in Khuzestan Province, Naft-Shahr Oilfield in Kermanshah Province and Azar Oilfield in Ilam Province.
