The National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) has earmarked $2 billion for the development of West Karun oilfields. The funding will be released by the end of the present Iranian year (March 2015), Moshtagh-Ali Gohari, deputy managing director for comparative planning at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said.
According to plans, the NDFI allocated $6 billion to West Karun fields over three years, with this year's share set at $2 billion, Shana news agency quoted the official as saying. Authorization for this year's funds has been ratified by NDFI board of trustees. Gohari said a contract will be signed with a company called SPV, a subsidiary of the Oil Industry Retirement Fund, through which it will receive the funds. NIOC, as a state-run organization, is not legally authorized to receive funds from the NDFI. Thus, SPV will receive and distribute the funds proportional to the project's progress.
The official said the development of West Karun fields has commenced and contracts have been signed for five oil well drilling projects in the South Azadegan Oilfield.
During the first eight months of the year (March - November) nearly $2 billion was injected through the NIOC, by-back contracts, and loans to the West Karun Projects.
West Karun, located in south-west Iran, includes Yaran and Mansouri fields as well as Yadavaran and North and South Azadegan joint fields with Iraq. According to plans, production capacity of South Karun fields is to reach 400,000 barrels per day by the next two years.
