Iranian Offshore Oil Company Raises Output by 20,000 bpd

The oil output of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company has increased by 20,000 barrels per day, the managing director of the company said. “The rise in crude production has been made possible with the operation of seven wells in Soroush Field,” Alireza Mehdizadeh was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news service Shana. In order to increase production to reach the levels before the sanctions, IOOC has taken extensive measures in the past two years, developing Abouzar, Sivand and Esfand fields, in addition to Soroush,” he added. The previous US administration unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and six world powers in 2018. It reimposed sanctions on Iran, targeting its key economic sectors, namely oil, banking and shipping industries. Soroush, which started production in 2001 in partnership with Royal Dutch Shell in 2001, is known as Iran’s largest offshore oilfield. It is located in Bushehr Province, 83 kilometers southwest of Kharg Island. Discovered in 1962, the field became operational by pumping 14,000 bpd after the drilling of the first well. The field was harmed severely during the 1980-88 Iraq-mposed war and halted production. The renovation of this field started in 2000 and its development began two years later. Since then, Soroush has produced less than 3% of its reserves, or about 360 million barrels of oil. Soroush last underwent development under a buyback deal with Shell in 2000. Under this deal, 10 horizontal wells were drilled in the field. In total, there are 32 wells in Soroush. The heavy crude oil extracted from Soroush is blended with that of nearby Norouz field to be shipped to the Persian Gulf floating terminal. --- Crude Production Iran’s crude production currently stands at 3.85 million barrels per day and programs are underway to increase the figure. If development projects proceed as planned, the country’s crude output can reach 5.7 million bpd in the next eight years. According to the latest reports, crude oil production in Sivand and Esfand offshore oilfields off the Persian Gulf has increased by 20% or 16,000 barrels per day. IOOC (as the project employer) and PetroIran Development Company (as the contractor) signed an agreement five years ago to boost oil production in the two oilfields located near Sirri Island. The $120 million engineering, procurement and drilling contract was signed in 2018 and the plan was completed earlier this year. The oilfields’ production capacity has reached 111,000 barrels per day. Operations entailed drilling, repairing and completion of 12 wells in the two fields, in addition to drilling four new wells, re-drilling six wells and repairing three others. All the work was carried out by domestic engineers and workers, and 85% of the much-needed equipment were supplied by local manufacturers. Both companies are subsidiaries of the National Iranian Oil Company, and the contract was one of the many NIOC plans to increase oil production. The deal was in line with the declared government plan of action to boost oil output from offshore deposits. Iran owns 145 hydrocarbon fields, of which 26 are shared with neighbors, namely Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.