An estimated $20 billion has been allocated for the development of West Karun oilfields in Khuzestan Province, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said, IRIB reported.
To accelerate operations at West Karun oilfields, permissions have been obtained from the parliament's economic commission to sign buy-back contracts in line with Note 2(G) of the national budget law, he said Tuesday at a press conference.
The note establishes the investment framework for the oil ministry, allowing it to invest up to $100 billion in oil and gas projects.
Furthermore, the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) and Arvandan Oil and Gas Company signed an agreement for drilling of 12 wells in the West Karun oilfields, according to a statement published on the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) website.
The project, valued at $98 million (2,500 billion rials plus $23 million), entails drilling of three wells, in addition to workover and completion of operations to be carried out in nine wells. A maximum of 24 months is needed to complete all the projects in the contract document.
West Karun, located in southwest Iran, includes Yaran and Mansouri fields as well as Yadavaran and North and South Azadegan joint fields with Iraq. Development plans for West Karun are aimed at expanding crude production by 700,000 barrels per day. West Karun fields are projected to produce one million barrels of oil per day in 2018.
