Oil production from the offshore Abouzar Oilfield in the Persian Gulf is expected to increase by 10,000 barrels per day by November, managing director of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company said.
"The field's production is expected to rise as soon as new platforms are installed," Alireza Mehdizadeh was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana.
Operations to build platforms “A20” and “A21”, which weigh about 1,200 tons each, have registered 85% progress and they will be hauled to the location in September, he added.
The official noted that the jackets were installed by local companies last year.
Crude oil from Abouzar stands at 220,000 bpd, making it one of the most productive offshore Iranian oilfields.
The move comes in line with Iran's plan to boost oil production from its offshore hydrocarbon deposits. The field's output is transferred via subsea pipelines to Kharg for export.
Abouzar Oilfield holds 4 billion barrels of in-place crude oil, but only 20% of the deposit are currently recoverable through 67 active wells out of the field's total 107 wells.
The oilfield is located 76 kilometers southwest of Kharg Island, the country's largest oil loading and export terminal.
IOOC is in charge of several other deposits, including Hendijan, Bahregansar, Reshadat, Soroush, Norouz and Doroud fields, as well as a number of associated petroleum gas plants on Kharg Island and in Bahregan oil region in the Persian Gulf, which await recovery measures to reach their potential output.
According to Mehdizadeh, with the completion of the reconstruction and overhaul project of Tank No. 4 of the Bahregan region in Bushehr Province, the Iranian crude oil storage capacity in the Persian Gulf has increased by 500,000 barrels.
“The storage capacity has now increased by 10%, which will promote the prosperity of the region since the area is a terminal for crude oil and gas condensate import and export,” he said.
The project took about three years to complete and most of the parts and equipment used in the facility were supplied by domestic manufacturers, he added.
Mehdizadeh noted that the 250,000-barrel tank of Kharg Island will come on stream within the next three months.
There are also plans to construct tanks No. 5, 6 and 8 in the Bahregan region with a total nominal capacity of 1.3 million barrels.
“With these measures, the operational capacity of Iran's crude oil storage in the Persian Gulf will increase dramatically,” he said.
Bahregan is one of the major Iranian oilfields in Bushehr. It has three platforms and 10 oil wells for the extraction of heavy crude oil.
The Iranian Offshore Oil Company is one of the world's largest offshore oil production companies, with over a half a century of experience. The company shares one-third of Iranian oil export.
