Zagros Company Sees Gas Output Hike
South Zagros Oil and Gas Production Company (SZOGPC) is one of three subsidiaries of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC). SZOGPC runs five operating areas known as Naar & Kangan, Aghar & Dalan, Parsian, Sarkhoun & Gashouy-e Jonoubi and Sarvestan & Saadatabad. Nine gas fields – Aghar, Dalan, Naar, Kangan, Sarkhoun, Tabnak, Homa, Varavi and Shanoul – plus two oil fields – Saadatabad and Sarvestan – are administered by this company. SZOGPC covers stretches in the southern provinces of Fars, Bushehr and Hormuzgan. Due to new discoveries, it will in the future reach the provinces of Kohguiluyeh Boeyer Ahmad and Chahar Mahal Bakhtiari.
Besides 11 operating fields, 37 newly discovered fields are under authority of SZOGPC. These new fields are planned to be developed and operated in coming years. The executive committee of SZOGPC is located in Fars Province.
Currently, Naar & Kangan near Jam in Bushehr Province has the capacity to produce 80 mcm/d of gas to be delivered to Fajr Jam refinery.
Parsian, which includes the four gas fields of Shanol, Homa, Varavi and Tabnak, is near Lamerd and Khonj in Fars Province. Its 80 mcm/d gas production could feed the Parsian refinery.
In Aghar & Dalan, near the cities of Qir and Farashband, 45 mcm/d of gas is obtained, the bulk of which is used for injection into oil wells for enhanced recovery. In winter, part of this gas is fed into national trunkline to meet increased demand.
Sarkhoun and Gashouy-e Jonoubi are in Hormuzgan Province. Its output reaches 8.5 mcm/d and is destined mainly for Sarkhoun gas refinery.
And finally Sarvestan & Saadatabad area near the city of Sarvestan can produce up to 6,000 b/d of oil which is mainly fed into Shiraz oil refinery.
In total, SZOGPC meets 30% of Iran's gas demand, which is equal to the output of nine phases of South Pars gas field. That is why SZOGPC is among top gas producing companies in Iran.
62 bcm Gas Output
Gholam-Hossein Montazeri, CEO of SZOGPC, told a group of reporters visiting areas run by the company that SZOGPC produced 62 bcm of gas, 20 million barrels of gas condensate and 2.2 million barrels of oil during the last Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20. He said the products were valued at nearly $9 billion.
Regarding SZOGPC's plan for the current calendar year, he said gas production would reach 175.3 mcm/d on average.
Montazeri said that during the first eight months of the current year, gas production would stand at 163 mcm/d and it would reach 200 mcm/d during the last four months of the year when the weather gets cold.
"We forecast to produce 62 to 63 bcm of gas, nearly 20 million barrels of gas condensate and 2.1 million barrels of oil," said Montazeri.
Currently, 214 gas wells and 12 oil wells are operating in the area covered by SZOGPC. Montazeri said the wells totaled 350, some of which remained undeveloped.
He said that three wells were to be drilled this year in the Dalan, Naar and Homa fields, while two wells in Dalan and Aghar would undergo workover.
Oil & Gas Production Safety
Overhaul has always topped the agenda of operating companies. In the last calendar year, overhaul on pipelines and oil and gas facilities of SZOGPC registered 228,000 persons-hours. That was aimed at providing safe conditions for oil and gas production.
Montazeri said 25.5 kilometers of pipelines were retrofitted, while intelligent pigging was carried out within the framework of overhaul last calendar year.
"Some 110 kilometers of intelligent pigging was done in the year 1395 (last calendar year). In the year 1396, 200 kilometers of pipeline owned by this company is to undergo intelligent pigging," he added.
Montazeri referred