Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec.21 /Trend F.Milad/
Iran plans to increase the number of active drilling rigs in its joint oil and gas fields by 30 percent next year, the Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ahmad Qalebani said on Friday.
Iran is currently carrying out $150 million of oil and gas projects in the country, $110 million of which is in the joint fields, the ISNA News Agency quoted Qalebani as saying.
Saying that Iran needs to install more offshore drilling rigs, he went on to note that Iran plans to increase its daily oil and gas production capacity up to 5 million barrels and 480 million cubic meters, respectively over a five-year period.
Iran drilled 124 offshore and onshore wells in the country's oil and gas fields during the first eight months of current Iranian calendar year, which began March 20, the SHANA News Agency reported.
The drilling operations of some new rigs are also underway.
The Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in November that the country plans to launch 7 drilling rig in South Pars gas field by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2013).
Iran intends to increase the number of South Pars gas field's drilling rigs up to 28 by the end of the second quarter of next Iranian year (September 2013).
Iran has attached the priority on boosting gas production capacity from its joint oilfields with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Oil Minster Rostam Qasemi ?said in June.
Iran sits on the world's second largest natural gas reserves after Russia and is trying to grow its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.
The field is shared by Iran and Qatar. The Iranian share, which is divided into 29 phases, has about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
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