West KarounDevelopment on Schedule
Touraj Dehqani, CEO of Petroleum
Engineering and Development Company
(PEDEC), has said development of oil
fields located in the West Karoun area in western
Iran are going on as planned. “West Karoun is
a highly potential and newly discovered area
with over 70 billion barrels of oil reserves,” he
told reporters on the sidelines of the Tehran Oil
Show. He said: “So far, budget allocation to the
development of West Karoun has been good,
leading to significant results.” “We may say that
we are not lagging behind our partner and rival
in this sector of the jointly owned fields and we
have managed to safeguard national interests
under the current critical circumstances,” he
added. Dehqani expressed hope for the signature
of new oil contracts within the framework of
the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) this calendar
year. “The contracts signed for the development
of the Sepehr, Jofair, West Paydar, Aban,
Dalpari and Cheshmeh Khosh fields have been
communicated to PEDEC. We are coordinating
the team for the steering of the project,” he said.
Dehqani referred to oil production hike in the
West Karoun fields, saying the output there
currently stood at 350,000 b/d as planned.
Output to Grow 80,000 b/d
Dehqani said oil production from PEDEC-run
fields would increase this year too.
He said the Azar field’s output would increase
30,000 b/d, while West Karoun’s fields would
see their output increase 40,000 to 50,000
b/d. “This year, oil production from the Azar
field would reach 65,000 b/d. The production
capacity of West Karoun fields would increase
40,000 to 50,000 b/d,” he added. Asked if US
sanctions had affected oil recovery from West
Karoun, Dehqan said: “Due to the prioritized
development of joint oil and gas fields, we
have not yet received any plans on cutting
production from the West Karoun fields.”
Talks with China under Way
Dehqani said negotiations were still continuing
with China for the second phase development
of West Karoun. “First of all, I have to say that
PEDEC is in charge of development of these
fields, and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)
is holding contractual talks to develop these
fields. As far as I know, talks are under way
between NIOC and Chinese firms,” he said. He
added: “We are waiting for NIOC instructions
to start the second phase development of West
Karoun fields.”
EOR Needed in Yaran
Dehqani said Yaran oil field was being
developed jointly with Persia Oil and Gas
Industry Development Company. “Following
Iran's Petroleum Ministry policy, Yaran
(northern and southern parts) is to be
developed wholly. Given the significance
of enhanced oil recovery from this field,
technology-based IOR methods would be
necessary,” he said