Iran Discovers New Shale Deposits in Sea of Oman

Iran's Research Institute of Petroleum Industry has discovered more shale reserves in the Sea of Oman, the head of RIPI said.
"The landmark discovery of oil and gas deposits in the region, made in cooperation with the Exploration Directorate of National Iranian Oil Company, is a major breakthrough achieved by using domestic cutting-edge databases and geological surveys," Jafar Tofiqi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency on Wednesday. 
According to the official, the second phase of extensive studies is being conducted to identify more unconventional oil basins not only in the Sea of Oman but also in Lorestan Province in western Iran.
"However, the country’s abundance of conventional resources means shale exploration is unlikely to pick up beyond exploration and identification, without any plans for production," Tofiqi said.
This is supported by the fact that producing conventional crude in the Persian Gulf costs Iran around $25 per barrel versus $40-80 for shale oil.