most severe event since the Persian Gulf
War. The attacks on Aramco’s facilities
that halved Saudi oil output sharply
pushed up crude prices.
Autumn, Oil Deals and Discovery
The first offshore coupling connected to
single-point mooring at IOTC was repaired
while the first rotary actuator needed in
oil and gas industry valves was built by
the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone.
The first hydraulic pump was developed
by Iranian drilling experts. Development
of the giant South Azadegan oil field
was officially awarded to the Arvandan
Oil and Gas Production Company. In
South Pars, the main Platform 23 and
the satellite Platform 24B were headed
to the Persian Gulf for installation in
their predetermined location. Minister
Zangeneh visited Moscow to attend the
21st ministerial meeting of Gas Exporting
Countries Forum (GECF). He announced
in the first month of autumn that
Petropars would go it alone in developing
SP11 following the pull out of France’s
Total and China’s CNPCI. The agreements
for making 50 pumps needed in the
Goureh-Jask oil pipeline, worth about
€ 48 million, were signed between the
Petroleum Engineering and Development
Company (PEDEC) and Pumpiran and
Petco. The NIOC Exploration Directorate
signed two seismic testing agreements
with two Iranian companies. One was
with the Oil Exploration Operations
Company for implementing 2D seismic
testing and the other one with Tenco for
3D seismic testing. National Iranian Oil
Company (NIOC) announced a new gas
find in the southern Fars Province. The
Eram field with 19 tcf (540 bcm) of gas
reserves in place, 13 tcf of which would
be recoverable. An Iranian oil tanker was
struck with a rocket just 60 miles from
Jeddah Port. It was towed into Iranian
territorial waters after ten days.
Minister Zangeneh announced the
discovery of a new oil reservoir, i.e.
Namavaran. Exploration operations had
started in 2016 by applying the most
advanced methods and drilling three
wells. That added 22 billion barrels to
the country’s oil reserves in place and 2.2
billion barrels to recoverable oil.
The first and deepest ever directional
well was drilled in Kajdomi Formation of
the South Azadegan oil field. Platform of
SP23 and Platform 24B were installed. Gas
production from the Sarajeh and Shourije
underground storage sites started. PLC
systems were installed on Well No. 44
of Khangiran, while smart pigging was
concluded there. The 177th meeting of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries and their allies was held on oil
output cut. They agreed to cut another
503,000 b/d from their total output. An
extraordinary ministerial meeting of GECF
member states was held in Equatorial
Guinea. Other developments in the final
month of autumn included the reparation
of machinery and some parts of mud
pumps on the location of Fath 33 rig to
prevent any halt in operations, successful
driving of the completion string of the
first development well in the drilling of
40 wells in South Azadegan and providing
auxiliary services and installing air
hose, rebuilding and re-launching the
turbopump of production unit number
3 in the Aghajari Oil and Gas Production
Company, launching an environmental
project for gathering gas waste in the
Karoun Oil and Gas Production Company,
enhancing the output of the Khangiran
area by 1 mcm/d, inaugurating a low-
pressure gas gathering project, saving
the country more than 700,000 dollars,
conclusion of overhaul of 22 gas platforms
in the South Pars gas field, installing
the structures of platforms 23 and 24B,
and increasing the condensate storage
capacity of South Pars.
Winter, Corona Outbreak and Oil
Crash
PEDEC announced that studies and
screening by the Petroleum Engineering
Institute of the University of Tehran on the
Azadegan field have proven the capability
for a 10% increase in the recovery rate
of the oil field Iran shares with Iraq by
applying enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
methods. NISOC announced that the
studies jointly conducted by universities
and research institutes on the six fields
of Ahvaz, Karanj, Koupal, Mansouri,
Gachsaran and Bibi Hakimieh had
resulted in significant results. The S1
wellhead platform of the Salman field,
built domestically, was loaded out in
Khorramshahr Yard and pipe-laying for
gas projects in South Pars were over. Gas
recovery from top drive 14B started. The
last offshore platform of SP14 was loaded
out in SADRA Yard and the third platform
came online. The novel coronavirus
outbreak hit international headlines. The
overhaul of the Hangam gas processing
installations ended while the satellite 14D
platform was installed. The last flare of
the gas platform of SP22-24 was turned
on and the 24B platform became ready
for gas recovery and delivery to refinery.
The Khazar Exploration and Production
Company (KEPCO) adopted a plan for
testing wells in the Sardar-e-Jangal field to
be presented to the NIOC Department of
Incorporate Planning. In northeast of Iran,
a new well with a production capacity of
more than 1.3 mcm/d became operational
in Khangiran. An agreement was signed
between NIOC and power utility MAPNA
for increased production from Parsi and
Paranj fields. Well No. 44 of the Parsi field
came online by using for the first time
the gas lifting technology. The Fath 72
drilling rig, built by the Academic Center
for Education, Culture and Research
(ACECR) was unveiled by Minister
Zangeneh in Ahvaz. It was the 6th rig built
by Iranian manufacturers. The agreement
for a skied-mounted processing unit in
the South Azadegan oil field was signed
between PEDEC and ACECR under a
build-operate-transfer (BOO) deal. The
178th meeting of the OPEC Conference was
held in Vienna without any agreement
between OPEC and non-OPEC allies.
Oil prices started a downward trend.
NIOC continues to follow up on various
overhaul and reconstruction projects,
including the overhaul of three gas
injection compressors in the third
train of oil installations in Darquain.
IOTC also announced the development
of an automatic sampling system in
partnership with Iranian knowledge-
based companies. In Kharg, a 2.4km
pipeline was inaugurated to carry fuel
to the power plant there. In Lavan, the
deoxygenation tower of steam boilers
was installed and made operational
while the input and output pipes of
the desalination unit of the Salman oil
processing plant were replaced. The
coronavirus was a gatecrasher from which
Iran’s petroleum industry was not spared
either. The Petroleum Ministry, NIOC
and its subsidiaries adopted plans for
countering the impacts of Covid-19. The
Emergency Conditions Committee raised
the alert level to 3. In South Pars, Platform
13A and its structures were installed and
the last platform of SP22-24 started gas
production to be delivered to its onshore
refinery. The wellhead platform S1 was
installed in the Salman field and the first
phase of gas sweetening in Asmari came
online. On the final day of the year, the last
platform in the SP14 development project
came online. Several days before the
start of the new calendar year, Zangeneh
banned any leave for operational
managers in the petroleum industry
companies as long as the coronavirus has
not been contained, except for emergency
purposes.