NIOC Ratifies Exploration and Production Roadmap

The National Iranian Oil Company has approved a roadmap to expand exploration and production in five oil and gas blocks in line with efforts to raise crude and natural gas output.

The plan entails the development of Dasht-e-Abadan, the Persian Gulf, Northern and Southern Dezful and Koppeh Dagh blocks by 2022, the end of Iran's sixth five-year economic development plan.

"The NIOC assessed the development of 14 oil blocks and eventually assigned priority to five blocks," Seyyed Saleh Hendi, NIOC's deputy for exploration, was cited as saying by Shana on Tuesday.

The roadmap also includes specifics about geological and seismic studies as well as drilling requirements. "The NIOC has set a minimum production target for each block and plans are in place to develop the oil regions using $2 billion in domestic funding."

The NIOC has a better chance of tapping into Dasht-e Abadan and Northern Dezful reservoirs compared to other blocks, Hendi said, referring to preliminary geological findings.

Koppeh Dagh is a hydrocarbon-rich region near the border with Turkmenistan in the northeast, containing massive natural gas deposits.

Dasht-e Abadan and the twin Dezful blocks are located in the southern oil-rich Khuzestan Province that shares borders with Iraq.  According to reports, Tehran for the first time unveiled the oil blocks as part of its oil and gas development projects in late 2015.

Iran, the third-largest producer at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, aims to add 3 million barrels to its daily crude production in 10 years, according to Gholamreza Manouchehri, a deputy at the NIOC.

It currently pumps close to 4 million barrels of crude daily. Natural gas output is also expected to exceed 1 billion cubic meters a day by March 2018 – end of the current Iranian fiscal year -- on the back of bigger supplies from South Pars, the world's largest gas field shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf. 

Total daily gas output is around 880 million cubic meters at present, according to latest government data.