ICOFC Says to Tender 20 Oil, Gas Fields

Development of 20 oil and gas oilfields in the central and western regions with the help of international giants tops the National Iranian Oil Company's agenda, managing director of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) said on Saturday.

“Ten international tenders will be held for selected oilfields in central and western Iran to choose the most qualified companies to increase recovery rate in joint fields with Iraq,” Salbali Karimi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.

Commenting  on concluded memoranda of understanding with oil majors namely Russia's Gazprom Neft PJSC, Lukoil, Tatneft, Zarubezhneft, Germany's Wintershall, Malaysia's Petronas, Austria's OMW and Indonesia's Pertamina, Karimi said, "Plans are in place to sign contracts with domestic and foreign firms to develop 10 oilfields, including Aban, East and West Paydar, Sumar, Dehloran, Cheshmeh Khosh, Danan, Dalpari and Naft Shahr all in western Iran."

According to the official, most of the MoUs to study the hydrocarbon deposits have been signed with Russian companies. The agreement signed with Gazprom this month extended the number of Iranian oilfields to be studied by Russian companies to seven.

Underscoring the fact that the development projects are aimed at boosting crude output by 100, 000 barrels per day, Karimi said the mega project requires $2 billion in investment.

"The number of active rigs in the central oilfields exceeds 10 and more rigs are being deployed in the area."

  Gas Field Development

Regarding gas field development initiatives, he said plans call for developing six gas fields in south Zagros region.

"Development of six gas fields, namely Sefid Zakhour, Halgan, Dey, Tang Bijar, Madar and Khar-Tang, all located in the western and central regions, is high on the priority list," Karimi noted, adding that natural gas production capacity in the central regions stands at 300 million cubic meters per day, though the exact volume of output is unclear.

"Moreover, plans are in place to attract investment via engineering procurement, construction and financing (EPCF) contracts to increase recovery rate in other gas fields including Tabnak, Shanoul and Homa."

One of the hydrocarbon-rich countries, Iran has the world's second-largest proven natural gas reserves after Russia. The reserves remain largely untapped and the Oil Ministry is looking for investors in the upstream gas projects. The main push for expansion will be in the 23 fields shared between Iran and its neighbors. The supergiant North Dome/South Pars field in the Persian Gulf is by far the most important of the fields. It is estimated to hold 18.2% of the world’s total gas reserves.

  South Azadegan Oilfield

According to Gholamreza Manouchehri, deputy for development and engineering affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, a tender to develop South Azadegan Oilfield is expected to be held by next March for major international companies.

Pointing to Iran's new model of oil contracts designed to bring back foreign investment, Manouchehri noted that the tenders for 50 oil and gas fields will lead to signing 20-year contracts, which entails a five-year exploration and development period and 15 years for production.

An increasing number of foreign energy companies in the past few months have rushed to sign provisional agreements to study Iran's rich oil and gas reserves, notably the giant Azadegan Oilfield.