Gazprom Neft Presents Iran Oilfield Proposals

Gazprom Neft, the oil division of Russian gas major Gazprom, presented its development plan for Iran's Azar and Changuleh oilfields on Monday.

The presentation took place in a meeting in Tehran between Gazprom Neft executives and National Iranian Oil Company officials led by deputy chief Gholamreza Manouchehri, the NIOC news portal reported.

Gazprom Neft aims to team up with Iranian EPC contractor Oil Industries Engineering and Construction Group to develop the crude oil reservoirs at the southwestern border with Iraq.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in July in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to join forces for conducting the assessment of geological potentials of Changuleh and Azar in Ilam Province.

Changuleh Oilfield is estimated to hold more than 4 billion barrels of heavy crude in place. Iran hopes to start production from the oilfield at a rate of 15,000 barrels per day and boost output to 65,000 bpd under a five-year development plan.

The first phase of production from Azar Oilfield, with a capacity of 15,000 barrels per day, commenced in March after a long delay.

The field holds 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil and is expected to produce up to 65,000 bpd as soon as the second phase is completed in 2018.

The Russian company is believed to be in good position to take on the energy projects, given the political and economic alignment of Tehran and Moscow, and its own increasing foray in Iran's energy market.

NIOC and Gazprom signed two memoranda of understanding in Tehran to join hands to tap into Iran's gas deposits last week.

The first agreement was described as a "gas collaboration roadmap" and the second aimed to complete Iran's largest liquefied natural gas project known as Iran LNG.

Gazprom is also to provide NIOC with the result of its technical surveys and development plans for three Iranian offshore gas fields in the Persian Gulf, namely North Pars, Kish and Farzad gas fields by April 2018.

According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, crude production capacity should reach 4.7 million barrels a day by 2021, though actual output may be lower.

The government says around $200 billion should be spent across the chain of Iran's petroleum industry, with $130 billion required by exploration and production ventures alone.