Collective oil output from the West Karun block, which is shared with Iraq, is slated to reach 1.2 million barrels per day, the chief executive officer of Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Company said.
“West Karun oil production, including light and heavy crude, should be delivered to the southern ports for export. Presently, two pumping stations in Khuzestan Province are currently in service,” Noureddine Shahnazi-Zadeh was also quoted as saying by ISNA on Thursday.
Referring to plans to develop the pumping station in West Karun, the official said the station’s capacity is to be increased to 1.2 million barrels per day from the current 750,000 bpd.
The official did not specify a timeframe, but noted that the plan’s feasibility studies and designing is being conducted. Another pumping facility in the city of Omidiyeh is operational.
“I hope we can export light and heavy oil from Kharg Oil Terminal and Bahregan Port in the Persian Gulf by expanding pumping capacity and laying pipelines parallel with developing the oilfields’ output,” he added.
West Karun is the name of an oil-rich region in the southern Khuzestan Province that includes several large oilfields, including Azadegan, Yaran and Yadavaran, with the first two divided into north and south projects.
According to published reports, Iran is currently drawing crude from the block at an unacceptable extraction rate of 5-6%.
In an effort to ramp up the rate of recovery, Tehran is planning international tenders for West Karun oilfields in what could attract major oil and gas companies such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Eni and CNPC.
Pipeline to Jask
Another major plan is to prepare Jask Oil Terminal in the southern Hormozgan Province for storage and export of West Karun crude, Shahnazi-Zadeh said, adding that a 1,100-kilometer pipeline from Goureh Oil Terminal in the northwest of Bushehr Province to Jask is planned to be constructed.
He stressed that five pumping facilities are also due to be built to deliver oil to Jask.
According to the official, the pipeline is divided into four 250-km sections, each handed over to a contractor through tender.
Shahnazi-Zadeh said the designing operation of the pipelines has been completed and the contractors are now involved in purchasing the pipelines.
Mohammad Saghaei, an Oil Ministry advisor, told NIOC’s official portal last year that the Jask Oil Terminal will have the capacity to store up to 30 million barrels and export 1 million bpd of crude oil once completed.
He noted that the terminal is estimated to cost upwards of $2 billion and be completed by 2021.
The terminal is part of a development plan in the region, which includes the construction of two refineries, a petrochemical complex and oil storage units with a total capacity of 10 million barrels in the first phase and 30 million barrels in the second.
The terminal could ease the load of tanker traffic at Kharg Oil Terminal off the Persian Gulf coast that is responsible for more than 90% of Iranian oil exports.
