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.
Reportedly, shale reserves have already been confirmed in Iran’s Zagros Basin and near Aligoudarz in Lorestan.
In July 2015, IRNA quoted an unnamed source as saying preliminary explorations have found three or four oil shale basins with signs of kerogen near the city of Kerman and in Semnan Province.
According to the officials of Exploration Department, shale gas reserves have also been found in Lorestan Province near the Zagros Mountains.
"Exploration is now being carried out in four phases, yet Iran will not need to make a move to tap into its shale formations because of higher costs," Tofiqi said.
