The National Iranian Oil Company has signed deals with five top Iranian universities on studying the country's hydrocarbon reserves and conducting oil and gas discovery activities.
The contracts were signed in the presence of Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the oil minister, and Mansour Gholami, the minister of science, research and technology, in Tehran on Monday, NIOC's news portal reported.
As per the deals, Shahid Beheshti University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Kharazmi University of Tehran, Shahroud University of Technology and Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province were assigned to conduct research and development studies on different oil and gas blocks.
A total value of about $2.5 million has been allocated to the five contracts, which are planned to be carried out in 10 years.
Shahid Beheshti University will help the Oil Ministry develop modern geochemical observatory technologies based on hydrocarbon discoveries in the sedimentary basins of northern Dezful.
Based on the agreement, Kharazmi University will carry out research on carbonate rocks in the Dasht-e Abadan block.
Dasht-e Abadan and the twin Dezful (south and north) blocks are located in the southern oil-rich Khuzestan Province that shares borders with Iraq.
According to reports, Tehran for the first time unveiled the oil blocks as part of its oil and gas development projects in late 2015.
Chamran University's cooperation with NIOC is set to develop new discovery technologies with a focus on surface and subsurface geochemical approaches in Dasht-e Abadan block.
The collaboration with Ferdowsi University entails the development of deep subsurface exploration techniques to study the potential hydrocarbon reserves in Koppeh Dagh block. Koppeh Dagh is a hydrocarbon-rich region near the border with Turkmenistan in the northeast, containing massive natural gas deposits.
Shahroud University also has entered the agreement to study the application of geomechanics in discovering hydrocarbon reserves and the use of new drilling technologies in excavating new wells.
The NIOC has delineated a roadmap to expand exploration and production in the oil and gas blocks in line with efforts to raise crude and natural gas output by 2022. According to Gholami, nine Iranian universities are already cooperating with NIOC in the upstream sector and 12 research and development contracts pertain to the downstream petroleum sector between companies affiliated to the Oil Ministry and universities and research institutions.
The downstream sector generally refers to the refining of crude oil and the processing of natural gas, as well as the marketing and distribution of products derived from crude oil and natural gas.
Iranian universities have entered the domestic oil exploration sector, which is in line with the government's push to expand exploration and production in oil and gas blocks for raising output.
Iran aims to increase its oil production to 4.05 million barrels per day and total gas output to 1.1 billion cubic meters per day this year.
According to government data, oil production is now at 3.8 million bpd. In an agreement with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut oil output and ease a global oversupply, Iran was allowed to produce an average of 3.8 million bpd in the first half of last year.
Total daily gas output is around 880 million cubic meters at present, according to the latest government data.
