NIOC Assessing Pergas, MAPNA Proposals

National Iranian Oil Company’s Department of Reservoir Management is assessing development proposals submitted for Karanj Oilfield, a reservoir in Khuzestan Province, by Pergas Consortium, a group of international oil and gas companies, and MAPNA Group, an energy and engineering conglomerate. According to Shana, other firms, including Schlumberger Ltd, the world's leading oilfield services provider, as well as Pasargad Energy Development Company had also presented their master plans, but the proposals by Pergas and MAPNA have been much compatible with the National Iranian South Oil Company's standards. Karanj was discovered in 1963 and holds an estimated 9.6 billion barrels of in-place oil. It was producing 200,000 bpd of nearly 34 degrees API crude at its peak, but is seriously depleted. According to Bijan Alipour, NISOC's managing director, the master plans centered on strategies to boost output, finance plans and renovation of installations, which were securitized in NISOC's technical committees.