Energy Opportunities Exhibited in Kish
The 13th Kish International Energy Exhibition was held early January in this Persian Gulf Island in a bid to put on display Iran's potentialities in the oil, gas, water, electricity and renewable energy sectors. A total of 180 Iranian and foreign companies participated in the event. Senior officials from National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and its subsidiary oil and gas firms, as well as energy experts visited the exhibition.
Around 40 foreign companies or their representatives were in attendance in the exhibition which was held on 18,000 square meters of land and was aimed at introducing investment opportunities and potentialities, as well as achievements of manufacturers and producers of oil, gas, petrochemicals, water, electricity and renewable energies.
Foreign companies expressed happiness with the lifting of sanctions on Iran, particularly in the energy sector, and described presence in this round of this exhibition as an opportunity for benefiting from the experiences of Iranian specialists and the presence of leading Iranian and foreign companies for exchanging knowhow and sharing experience.
Several British companies, with two centuries of experience in the energy sector, were present in the exhibition. They said sanctions relief for Iran was a new opportunity for investment, noting that Iran's market enjoys good potential for investment, transfer of technology and development.
Among countries represented in the exhibition in Kish Island were Austria, Germany, United States, Spain, Russia, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, France, United Arab Emirates and Iraq.
During the four-day event, energy experts and businesspeople exchanged views and shared information about specialized issues, while Iranian and foreign companies put their technical capabilities and innovations on exhibit, interacted with those involved in the energy industry and got to know opportunities for investment.
Chief among the objectives of Kish international energy exhibition were introducing the country’s potentialities in different production, commercial and service-providing sectors related to oil, gas, petrochemical, water and electricity, highlighting weaknesses and problems in this industry, preparing the ground to encourage potential investors to finance projects and benefit from existing capacities and create a healthy competitive atmosphere between producers.
Furthermore, materialization of such objectives as getting familiar with products, innovations and capacities, familiarizing with the consumer market demand, identifying exemplary production units, underscoring the role and effect of products on safeguarding the country’s assets and capitals, saving assets, boosting exports to other countries, optimal use of domestic resources and making efforts for business prosperity were on the agenda of the 13th energy exhibition of Kish.
Meanwhile, an international oil and energy seminar was held on the sidelines of the exhibition on the second day of this important event.
The 13th international energy exhibition in Kish, as an industrial and business event in Iran in the oil, gas and renewable energies sector, was a good opportunity for companies operating in the energy sector to put their latest products and achievements on display to experts of this industry.
World Top Hydrocarbon Deposits
The deputy managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for development and engineering said at a forum on “investment in oil industry” on the sidelines of the exhibition that Iran held the highest amount of hydrocarbon reserves in the world.
“Experts believe that Iran is the most appropriate place for investment and has the most capacities for oil investment in the world. It has also the possibility of exporting gas and swapping oil and it can become a center for energy transactions,” said Gholam-Reza Manouchehri.
Regarding close links between development of Iran and petroleum industry growth, he said: “Although we are witnessing rapid changes in the energy sector like solar energy, we will continue to witness growing use of hydrocarbon reserves including oil and gas. Iran’s oil production has neared 4 mb/d and with more gas recovery from South Pars gas field, the share of gas in the country’s energy mix has reached 70%.”
Lucrative Projects
Manouchehri touched on the recovery rate of oil reservoirs, saying: “The current recovery rate of oil fields in the country stands at around 25%, which should increase to 40%.”
He said that Iran holds around 800 billion barrels of oil in place, which would add 8 billion barrels to the country’s output with a one-percent increase in the recovery rate.
He noted that the issue of enhanced recovery from oil reservoirs was very important, noting that some fields are shared with neighbors while some others have been damaged overtime.
70% Share of Domestic Manufacturing
Manouchehri pointed to the development of employment in Iran in case of investment in the upstream oil industry, saying: “According to plans, $200 billion should be invested in the petroleum industry, some 70% of which for domestic sector.”
He highlighted the low experience of the country in new technologies developed for enhanced recovery from oil reservoirs, saying: “We can apply state-of-the-art techn