Band-e-Karkheh Oilfield Development on Agenda

In line with efforts to develop oilfields in Khuzestan Province, Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Company will take charge of Band-e-Karkheh Oilfield’s development under the new Iran Petroleum Contract, the chief executive officer of PEDEC said.

“The feasibility of Band-e-Karkheh field has been proven by international giants, including OMV, an Austrian integrated oil and gas company, while PEDEC is finalizing the procedures and technicalities to develop the field,” Noureddine Shahnazi-Zadeh was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.

Located 20 kilometers northwest of Ahvaz, Band-e-Karkheh Oilfield holds an estimated 4.5 billion barrels of crude oil in place. Production is expected to reach 20,000 barrels per day in the first phase of development from the present 7,500 barrels daily.

Reportedly, OMV had reached an agreement in the early 2000s to develop Cheshmeh Khosh and Band-e-Karkheh fields in Khuzestan, but it was forced to drop out following the country’s standoff with the West over its nuclear program that led to the introduction of financial and trade restrictions against Tehran.

Asked about West Karoun oilfields such as Darkhoein, Shahnazi-Zadeh said the field’s first two phases have been developed and the third one is being expanded.

West Karoun includes several large oilfields straddling the Iran-Iraq border, namely 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.

Comparing Iraq’s output level from West Karoun with that of Iran, he noted that the neighboring state is extracting close to 305,000 barrels of crude from the joint fields, yet Iran’s production stands at 325,000 barrels per day, which is expected to exceed 350 bpd by March 2018.

Giving a breakdown on crude output from oil block in the southern Khuzestan Province, the official noted that South Azadegan production stands at 110,000 bpd. Nonetheless, just 75,000 barrels are extracted from the northern part of the field per day. Plans call for boosting output to 120,000 and 80,000 bpd by the end of the current fiscal that will end in March 2018.

Pointing to Yadavaran Oilfield, Shahnazi-Zadeh said, “The field’s daily output has reached 110,000 barrels.”

According to the official, North and South Yaran oilfields produce 20,000 and 10,000 bpd respectively.

According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, oilfields in the West Karoun region top the ministry’s development priorities.

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.

  Azar Output Stable

“Azar Oilfield became operational in early March at a rate of 15,000 bpd, but extraction rate has since been pushed to 31,000 barrels a day. So far, more than 4.5 million barrels of oil have been extracted from the field,” Shahnazi-Zadeh added.

The official noted that plans have been devised to stabilize output at 65,000 bpd in the near future, for which 10 wells have been drilled and operations to drill seven more are underway.

Stressing that the completion of the second phase will boost the field’s output to 100,000 bpd, the official said, “The field’s crude oil API, a measure of how heavy or light petroleum liquids are compared to water, stands at 33, which ranks it among medium-grade crudes.”

Azar holds 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil and is one of the joint fields with Iraq, along with Dehloran, West Paydar, Naft-Shahr, Azadegan and Yadavaran.