Vast exploration operations are underway on 140,000 square kilometers to discover offshore and onshore hydrocarbon deposits, the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company Said.
“Domestic firms, including the National Iranian South Oil Company, NIOC’s Exploration Department and the Oil Industry Research Institute of Iran, have joined hands to discover oil and gas deposits,” Mohsen Khojastehmehr was also quoted as saying by ISNA.
Early studies have been highly promising, indicating that there is still a large number of untapped resources in the country, especially in the oil-rich Khuzestan Province, he added.
“The number of oil and gas wells in Iran exceeds 3,500,” he said, adding that 70% of NIOC’s gas fields and 50% of Iran’s oilfields were discovered after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
According to the NIOC chief, the discovery of hydrocarbon reserves has witnessed a considerable rise over the last 40 years.
“Seismic and geophysical operations in joint oil and gas fields in border regions have gained impetus and NIOC’s next priority is gathering geophysical data to discover new reserves in the Persian Gulf,” he said.
Giving a breakdown, Khojastehmehr noted that the number of drilled onshore and offshore oil and gas wells has experienced 100% growth and the length of drilled wells has increased by 36% during the five years.
The official noted that close to $100 million have been spent on two- and three-dimensional seismic surveys since last March, covering 20,000 kilometers in 11 provinces, up fourfold compared to a year ago.
Seismic Surveys
The company needs $1.4 billion to expand its activities and conduct 2D and 3D seismic surveys on 100,000 kilometers of surface areas over the next seven years, he said.
A 2D seismic survey is an exploration method used to create a map of the structures beneath the Earth’s surface. The method sends energy waves into the Earth. The different rock formations then reflect the waves back to the surface, where they are recorded over a period of time and converted into a seismic image.
The NIOC chief announced that local engineers have indigenized seismic survey knowhow and talks are underway with neighbors, including Iraq, Oman, Tajikistan and Russia, to transfer expertise.
According to the official, the process of discovering a new hydrocarbon reserve takes at least seven years, such that the collection of geophysical data requires five years and the rest is spent on seismic surveys and drilling operations.
NIOC has discovered hydrocarbon reserves in southwest Iran with the help of aeromagnetic surveys conducted by domestic knowledge-based firms.
Khojastehmehr said aeromagnetic studies show that the new reserves hold close to 16 billion barrels of oil in the Zagros area of western Iran.
“Instead of seismic discovery methods, NIOC employs magnetic methods that are faster and more precise,” he said, adding that as they are responsive to lateral variations in rock properties and gravity, magnetic methods are suitable for detecting steep anomalies such as faults.
In the past 40 years, 73 oil and gas fields have been discovered in Iran and explorations conducted at hydrocarbon fields show Iran’s recoverable gas reserves have risen by 283 billion cubic meters. They include 36 oilfields and 37 gas fields, 26 of them are joint fields.
Joint Fields
Iran (34 trillion cubic meters) and Russia (32.6 tcm) hold the largest proven gas reserves in the world.
In addition to lack of investment, the oil and gas industry is facing new challenges, one of which is its high water and energy consumption, which subject it to increasingly stringent environmental standards.
This constrains them to rethink extraction, production and distribution methods to obtain or maintain their operating license.
They also have to provide guarantees and ensure transparency in observing environmental standards in their activities.
According to the official, a total of 19 oil and gas fields, including 48 reservoirs, were discovered in the past eight years.
“As of 2014, 10 gas fields were discovered with a total in-place reserve of 2 tcm, as well as nine oilfields containing 60 billion barrels of in-place oil,” he added.
Elaborating on some of the provincial discoveries, Khojastehmehr said the gas fields of Pazan in Fars Province, Khar-Tang in Bushehr Province and Charak in Hormozgan Province, as well as Yadman and Sepehr oilfields in Khuzestan Province, are among major deposits discovered during the period.
