The National Iranian South Oil Company's efforts to boost output from four oilfields, namely Shadegan, Rag Sefid, Karanj and Parsi in the southern Khuzestan Province, are on the right track, NISOC's director of technical affairs said.
"NISOC has signed a total of eight memoranda of understanding on studying hydrocarbon reservoirs, four of which have been signed with domestic exploration and production companies," Ahmad Mohammadi was also quoted as saying by ISNA on Tuesday.
NISOC has been assigned with the development of four oilfields that have a total of nine reservoirs.
--- Technical Studies
Referring to the Shadegan Oilfield, Mohammadi said, "NISOC has held negotiations with Russia’s Zarubezhneft, Tatneft, Iran’s Tenco and Pasargad Energy Development Company on the development of the field."
"Technical surveys on the oilfield have been completed," he added.
Shadegan Oilfield is 60 kilometers south of Ahvaz. It was discovered nearly half a century ago and started production in 1988 following the end of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. Production from the field is now reportedly at 70,000 barrels a day.
The master plans are centered on strategies to boost output, finance plans and rehabilitate ramshackle installations, which will be securitized in NISOC's technical committees.
The official added that "studies on Parsi Oilfield are 70% complete and technical surveys on Rag Sefid Oilfield have registered a 30-40% work-in-progress".
Rag Sefid Oilfield, which has been into production for over 50 years, holds an estimated 16.5 billion barrels of crude oil in place. Foreign companies, including Schlumberger, Zarubezhneft and MAPNA Group—Iran’s top engineering and energy enterprise, have conducted studies on the field.
Parsi is located approximately 130 kilometers northeast of the same oil city and holds more than 10 billion barrels of crude oil.
Development of Karanj Oilfield was given to Pergas Consortium, a group of international oil and gas companies, last week, based on which the field's output is planned to increase by 200,000 barrels per day. The plan envisages the extraction of 655 million barrels from the reservoir within a 10-year period.
--- NISOC Special Contracts
Mohammadi noted that if the development of the fields is given to domestic contractors, there would not be any obligation on partnering with foreign firms but if foreign firms win the tenders, they need to form consortiums with Iranian companies.
Officials say NISOC's model conforms to the outlines of Iran Petroleum Contract, the new contractual framework designed to develop dozens of oil and gas projects with foreign investment.
Previous reports quoted the official as saying that his company will sign preliminary agreements with more Iranian companies to study the huge hydrocarbon reserves in the south.
"We need to raise more than $10 billion to develop the four oilfields," Mohammadi said, adding that the development of each field is estimated to cost about $3 billion.
The Oil Ministry has stipulated that multinationals must choose an Iranian partner in future oil and gas projects if they want a share in energy projects.
Iran's petroleum sector needs $200 billion in new investments, most of which are expected to come from foreign sources. Years of economic restrictions imposed over Tehran's nuclear program deprived Iran's key petroleum industry from finance and technology.
Dozens of foreign and domestic companies have signed agreements to study the country's rich hydrocarbon reserves.
