The Iranian Offshore Oil Company is working on a $7-billion investment plan to raise extraction from southern oilfields, IOOC managing director said.
Saeed Hafezi added that the plan calls for accelerating the development of Resalat, Reshadat and Salman oilfields, securing the required funds from Note 2(G) of the budget, Mehr News Agency reported.
He added that IOOC is planning to turn Sirri and Lavan islands in the Persian Gulf into "gas hubs", without elaborating details.
The oilfields under development by IOOC hold an estimated 100 billion barrels of crude, comprising roughly 15% of the country's total oil reserves.
Hafezi said extraction from the country's offshore oil reserves is on average higher than that of hydrocarbon resources.
IOOC's total crude production is close to 500,000 barrels per day, but the company aims to increase output by 32,000 barrels in the short run, and by 130,000 and 400,000 barrels in the medium- and long-term respectively.
The company is also working to curb the wastage of associated petroleum gas from Hendijan and Bahregansar oilfields. Officials say over 707,000 million cubic meters of gas are wasted every day in Bahregansar Oilfield.
APG is a form of natural gas found with the deposits of petroleum. It is often released as a waste product from the petroleum extraction industry. When it is burned off in the atmosphere, it is referred to as flare gas.
