3 West Karoun Oil Fields Output at 300,000 b/d
West Karoun area, the name given to the western bank of Karoun River in western Iran, is now a familiar word in Iran. The reason is that it houses several jointly owned oil fields like North Azadegan, South Azadegan, Yadavaran, North Yaran and South Yaran.
Many experts believe that Iran’s new oil civilization would take shape in West Karoun area. This zone enjoys high potential to make a revolution in Iran’s oil production capacity.
Thanks to follow-up efforts by the Ministry of Petroleum in the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, as well as endeavors by Iranian oil service workers, the first development phase of North Azadegan, Yadvaran and North Yaran became operational recently in the presence of President Rouhani.
The Iranian president travelled to the southwestern oil-rich province of Khuzestan to launch several projects.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the three major oil projects, Rouhani referred to the positive ramifications of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said: “In the first phase of the JCPOA, the Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as other entities and bodies shouldered the burden. But after Iran-West agreement and the signature of the JCPOA, other state organs started efforts for the JCPOA objectives to materialize. In this regard, the main burden was upon the Iranian petroleum industry.”
He said the success of Iran’s petroleum industry in bringing the country’s oil production and exports level back to the pre-sanctions era, shortly following the implementation of the JCPOA, surprised the world as much the JCPOA’s signature had done.
Rouhani heaped praise on all petroleum industry staff and managers, saying: “Oil industry made maximum benefit from post-JCPOA atmosphere. Furthermore, the presence of big oil companies and signature of contract with them are among other post-JCPOA instances of success.”
Noting that using science and capital is a necessity, the president said: “The government had reached the stage of production in some West Karoun fields with a production of around 65,000 b/d. Now, three years after the 11th administration took office, with the startup of the first phase development of North Azadegan and Yadvaran and the development of North Yaran, more than 250,000 b/d of oil is being produced from these jointly owned fields. The oil fields in West Karoun area have a crude oil production capacity of 300,000 b/d, which must increase.”
Rouhani highlighted Iran’s limited capital and the petroleum industry’s need for new technologies particularly for oil recovery enhancement, and stressed the need for the use of investment and technology for enhancing West Karoun’s output.
“West Karoun area currently holds 67 billion barrels of oil in place. Even with a one-percent increase in the recovery rate, we will see increased production and also higher revenue for the country’s economy,” he said.
The Iranian president said qualified domestic and foreign companies equipped with capital and technology should be welcomed.
“The important point would be to prevent fall-off in the oil and gas wells by applying new technologies,” he added.
Rouhani said the JCPOA meant breathing fresh air and a new experience, adding: “All state-run organizations and bodies are obligated to benefit from this new atmosphere and take faster steps for the realization of the country’s objectives.”
$20bn Investment Needed
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said production capacity of the three oil fields has now reached 300,000 b/d, much higher than 65,000 b/d during the early years of the administration of President Rouhani.
Noting that the West Karoun fields are among the most important assets in the country, Zangeneh drew a parallel between West Karoun oil fields and South Pars gas field.
“Our most important issue with regard to the development of jointly owned fields is to enhance recovery rate. For this purpose, we need sophisticated technology. In the meantime, we need to observe environmental issues and interaction with local residents,” he said.
Zangeneh said some $7 billion had been invested in the West Karoun fields under buy-back deals, adding: “The West Karoun fields are able to produce 1 mb/d and we will need $18 to $20 billion in fresh investment in coming years in order to reach that level of output and have sustainable production.”
He noted that while oil fields are developed and the new model of oil contracts is applied the issue of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) should be also taken into account.
“For instance, most of our fields in East Karoun are currently in the second half of their lifespan and their recovery rate needs to enhance,” he added.
Zangeneh said the new model of oil contracts would seek to enhance oil recovery, adding: “If Khuzestan Province is set to be developed the oil engine must be started there.”
The minister also said that three percent of new investments in the oil sector is to be allocated to the welfare of people in oil-rich areas. “That would improve people’s welfare, while after oil output hike the value chain will be also completed.”
Zangeneh said so far IRR 10,000 billion budget has been approved for social responsibility plans in oil-rich southern areas.
North Azadegan, North Yaran and Yadavaran are currently producing 85,000 b/d, 30,000 b/d and 115,000 b/d, respectively. Their output totals 230,000 b/d.
North Azadegan oil field is estimated to hold 5.6 billion barrels of crude oil, 279 barrels of which would be recoverable with a 5.6% recovery rate.
Development of this field under a buy-back deal was done for capacity building, processing and transfer of 75,000 b/d of crude oil in the first phase through drilling 58 wells, including 50 production wells and 9 waste disposal wells.
Development of North Azadegan is envisaged in two phases with an output of 75,000 b/d of crude oil plus 39 mcf/d of gas for each phase.
Yadavaran oil field’s development has been designed in three phases, the first of which has now come online. In the first phase of this development project, the objective would be to attain an 85,000 b/d production ceiling after drilling 49 new production wells, 3 appraisal wells and 3 extra water injection wells. Oil production from this field has now reached 115,000 b/d, up 30,000 b/d month-on-month.
In the second phase of development of Yadavaran oil field, the objective is to reach 180,000 b/d of crude oil. The third phase development of this field is projected to produce 300,000 b/d of crude oil.
The recovery of 30,000 b/d of oil from North Yaran oil field started recently.
This field is located 130 kilometers west of Ahvaz and along Iran-Iraq border.
Located west of North Azadegan and north of South Yaran oil field, North Yaran is estimated to produce oil with an API gravity of 16 to 18.