Production from Azar Oilfield, currently at 30,000 barrels per day, will reach 60,000 bpd upon the completion of operations to drill new wells in the field, manager of the development project said.
"The output is expected to reach 65,000 bpd later this year, as plans are underway to complete the second train of processing installations gradually," Keyvan Yar-Ahmadi was also quoted as saying by the National Iranian Oil Company's news portal.
According to the official, the second phase development of this field is under consideration for being awarded within the framework of the newly developed oil contracts known as Iran Petroleum Contract—the new model of Iran's oil and gas contracts to foreign bidders.
Azar is shared with neighboring Iraq, where it is known as Badra. It is located 20 kilometers from the city of Mehran in Ilam Province in Anaran exploration block, which also includes Changouleh and Timab fields.
The exploration of Anaran block was assigned by the NIOC Exploration Directorate in late 1990s to North Hydro of Norway. Negotiations lasted for one year with the Norwegian company, but they failed due to international sanctions imposed over Iran's civilian nuclear program.
Then, NIOC started preparing the infrastructure for the development of this field in 2008.
Meanwhile, talks with Russia’s Gazprom Neft and Malaysia’s Petronas also failed due to the sanctions. In 2010, negotiations got under way with the Oil Industries Engineering and Construction and Oil Industry Pension Fund Investment Company for the development of Azar.
Finally, a buyback agreement was signed for the Azar development. Early production started from this field in March 2017 at the rate of 15,000 bpd and output reached 30,000 bpd last May.
