Top State Oil, Gas Firms Sign Upstream Collaboration Deal

Pars Oil and Gas Company signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian Oil Company's deputy for exploration to expand technical collaboration in the upstream sector.

The agreement was signed by Saleh Hendi, NIOC’s head of Exploration Department, and Mohammad Meshkinfam, managing director of POGC, in Tehran on Sunday, NIOC's news portal reported.

The MoU is aimed at boosting cooperation between the state-owned oil company and POGC on broad-ranging issues such as the exploration and production sectors, searching for potential underground or subsea crude oil and natural gas fields, drilling of exploratory wells and operating wells that recover and bring crude oil and/or natural gas to the surface.

"POGC is making concerted efforts to boost natural gas production from the South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf," Meshkinfam said, noting that joining hands with NIOC’s Exploration Department can help POGC expand its exploratory operations.

Pointing to consultations with international firms to develop South Pars Gas Field, the official added that drawing on the domestic expertise of NIOC can yield positive results.

"Plans have been devised to drill two wells in Farzad-A and Farzad-B offshore gas fields in the Persian Gulf and it is a great opportunity to get involved in a joint venture with one of NIOC's subsidiaries," he said.

According to Meshkinfam, a part of natural gas extracted from the South Pars Gas Field is too sour to be processed and be injected to the Iran Gas Trunkline, so it should be injected into oilfields to increase output and NIOC can provide POGC with practical strategies in this regard.

Referring to NIOC’s background in conducting surveys on hydrocarbon reserves as well as drawing up development master plans, Hendi said, "Exploration enterprises and development firms should be in regular contact to exchange information and this is a top priority of our department."

  Cost Cutback

Attaching significance to close collaboration with NIOC's subsidiaries, Hendi noted that collaboration with POGC can cut down costs of joint ventures.

Pointing to NIOC's project-oriented outlook, the official added that in the past, the Exploration Department was only responsible for oil and gas field discovery, but due to the country's large number of undeveloped hydrocarbon fields, the department adopted a new policy and is tasked with having closer cooperation with other oil and gas companies.

According to the official, NIOC 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.

Hendi noted that NIOC works in cooperation with the Iranian Offshore Oil Company to carry out exploratory activities in oilfields and they intend to expand the scope of their activities.

Gholamreza Manouchehri, a deputy at the NIOC, had earlier announced that 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.

Iran currently pumps close to 3.8 million barrels of crude daily. Natural gas output is also expected to exceed 1 billion cubic meters a day by March 2018—the end of the current fiscal year—on the back of bigger supplies from South Pars, the world's largest gas field shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.