Drilling operations to boost Jofeir and Sepehr oilfields’ production capacity in Khuzestan Province are being carried out by the private sector, deputy managing director of Pasargad Energy Development Company said.
“The privately-owned firm is drilling 130 wells and they are expected to become operational in November," Ali Farrokhi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The project entails expanding the fields' current output at 2,000 barrels per day to 110,000 bpd during a four-year period. The plan envisages the extraction of 512 million bpd in 20 years.
PEDEC is implementing the plan with no foreign partners and the whole initiative is undertaken with the help of domestic firms, namely Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), Tadbir Drilling Development Company, Pezhvak Energy Company and Iran International General Contractor Company.
The National Iranian Oil Company finalized an agreement with PEDEC to develop the oilfields in 2018 within the framework of Iran Petroleum Contracts, the country's new model of contracts for oil and gas projects.
The 20-year contract was the first IPC-based deal signed between NIOC and a domestic company.
Direct and indirect costs of the plan are projected to reach $413 million and $242.7 million respectively.
As per the agreement, PEDEC was commissioned not only to drill 130 wells and lay pipelines, but also to equip wells with submersible pumps, oil separators and enhanced oil recovery methods to raise output.
PEDEC signed a memorandum of understanding and a non-disclosure agreement in 2017 with the National Iranian South Oil Company, a subsidiary of NIOC, to conduct studies on Sousangerd, Jofeir and Sepehr oilfields and submit a master plan.
The proposed plan was approved by NIOC's technical committees and they concluded the deal.
PEDEC, a subsidiary of Bank Pasargad, is active in offshore drilling (jackup rig operation), general contracting (oil and gas exploration and production) and pipe manufacturing.
The company is also carrying out studies on Rag Sefid, Parsi and Shadegan reservoirs in Khuzestan Province, where other companies like Schlumberger, the world's leading oilfield services provider, as well as Pergas Consortium, a group of 11 international oil and gas companies, are doing their best to win NIOC's trust to develop the fields.
Sepehr Oilfield is a reservoir in the West Karoun oil block in Khuzestan. According to estimates, Iran needs to spend $1 billion to tap into the field's 300 million barrels of proven reserves. Jofeyr Oilfield is 50 kilometers west of the city of Ahvaz and also contains gas deposits.
West Karoun includes several large oilfields straddling the Iran-Iraq border, namely Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoein, with the first three divided into north and south projects. The block holds an estimated 67 billion barrels of oil in place.
