MAPNA, OIEC to Study Iran Oil Deposits

Domestic companies on Tuesday signed two agreements with the National Iranian Oil Company to study crude oil deposits in the south.

The Oil Industries Engineering and Construction Company (OIEC) will survey Mansouri and Abteymour oilfields and MAPNA Group will study the Sepehr Oilfield. The fields are located in the southern Khuzestan Province, Shana reported.

The two companies are expected to hand in their findings to the NIOC in six months. OIEC is one of the 11 domestic corporations certified to partner with international majors in upcoming oil and gas projects. Russia's Lukoil and Indonesia's Pertamina as well as Tenco, a subsidiary of Khatam-al -Anbiya construction group, are also studying Abteymour and Mansouri fields.

Mansouri holds an estimated 3.3 billion barrels of oil in place. Production from the field is reportedly around 60,000 barrels per day at present, but plans call for boosting output to 100,000 bpd initially and to 150,000 barrels in the long run.

Abteymour, which is close to Mansouri, is estimated to hold 15 billion barrels of crude. Output stands at around 60,000 bpd, but NIOC hopes to produce 110,000 bpd from the field. MAPNA is up against Ghadir Investment Company, a major domestic conglomerate, for the Sepehr field, a reservoir in the West Karoun oil block in Khuzestan.  

According to estimates, Iran needs to spend between $500 million $600 million to tap into the field's 300 million barrels of proven reserves.

MAPNA is a major engineering and construction consortium, operating in a range of projects including oil and gas field development, onshore and offshore drilling services, and design and production of equipment such as turbo-compressors.

Iran's state-run oil company signed two oilfield study deals on Monday with the Philippines’ state oil company, PNOC, and the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO).