Renovating old oil wells and injecting water into hydrocarbon reservoirs are among the most likely strategies to increase oil output from joint fields in the Persian Gulf, Iranian Offshore Oil Company’s managing director said on Thursday.
"Raising oil extraction from joint oilfields tops the National Iranian Oil Company's list of priorities," Saeed Hafezi also told Shana.
Hafezi noted that plans have been made to recondition oil and gas wells using cleanout and repair methods so they can restart production.
According to the official, workover and repair of old wells, performing major maintenance or remedial treatments on an oil or gas well is an important part of the oil business.
In many cases, workover implies the removal and replacement of the production tubing string after the well has been killed.
"Renovating 48 wells and restarting oil extraction from them top the operation agenda in the first phase," he said, predicting that as soon as the wells are reconditioned, approximately 50,000 barrels per day will be added to Iran's production capacity in the Persian Gulf.
Underscoring the fact that Persian Gulf joint oilfields have experienced the highest increase in production, the official said under the current circumstances, 100,000 bpd are extracted from the joint field with Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"The biggest challenge NIOC has to deal with in extracting oil from the Persian Gulf offshore fields is the high ratio of water extracted with oil. Of the 100 barrels extracted, 40 barrels are a mix of water and oil, which is definitely a very high ratio compared to what is produced in other fields," he said.
Referring to the second strategy of injecting water into the reservoir, Hafezi said water is injected not only to support reservoir pressure, but also to sweep or displace oil from the reservoir and push it towards a well.
According to the official, plans have been made to inject 120,000 barrels of water into the wells in the Siri region in the Persian Gulf as soon as the electricity supply shortage, much-needed to operate high voltage charge pumps, is addressed.
"Normally only 30% of the oil in a reservoir can be extracted, but water injection increases that percentage, known as the recovery factor, and maintains the production rate of a reservoir over a longer period," he said.
"Under sanctions, the Persian Gulf oilfields witnessed the least output reduction."
Hafezi noted that NIOC is planning to raise Abouzar Oilfield's output by 40,000 bpd, as soon as the new policies are set into motion.
Iran has announced plans to raise crude production capacity to its pre-sanctions level and regain the market share it lost to rival producers such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Its Oil Ministry will issue bonds to boost investment in a joint oilfield with Iraq, as Iran presses ahead with plans to raise crude production capacity by 1 million barrels a day within six months.
