West Karoun Block Raising Output to 500,000 bpd

Plans are in place to boost oil production capacity to half a million barrels per day from shared oilfields with Iraq in an oil block known as the West Karoun in Khuzestan Province, a senior oil official said.

"Production capacity in the West Karoun oilfields is set to reach 500,000 barrels per day by July from the present 300,000 bpd," according to Noureddine Shahnazizadeh, managing director of Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), Mehr News Agency reported.

"By producing 220,000 bpd from South Azadegan and Yadavaran fields, 65,000 from North Azadegan, 35,000 bpd from Yaran as well as 180,000 bpd from Darkhovein, we can ramp up output from the West Karoun fields to 500,000 bpd in a few months," the official said.

West Karun is the name of an oil-rich region Khuzestan that includes several large oilfields, including Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoein with the first three divided into north and south projects. The block holds an estimated 67 billion barrels of oil in place.

Shahnazizadeh said that presently the actual output of the block is below 300,000 bpd, including 100,000 bpd from Yadavaran field, 60,000 bpd from North Azadegan, 65,000 bpd from North and South Yaran and 50,000 from the South Azadegan field.

According to Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the oil minister, West Karoun fields as well as South Pars, the giant gas field shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, top the ministry's priority for development.

Officials say raising the rate of recovery from West Karoun by 1% would increase recoverable reserves by 670 million barrels, or some $33 billion in revenues with oil at $50 a barrel.