Baku, Azerbaijan, August 8
Trend:
Karoun Oil and Gas Production Company has started new operations to drill a series of developmental and repair wells to boost output from Iran’s oil fields on the western bank of the Karoun River.
Production capacity in the West Karoun oilfields is set to increase by 150,000 barrels per day, according to the report carried by Shana news agency on August 8.
Experts predict that the government is required to set up 28 more reservoirs in south in order to be able to store the additional 150,000 barrels of oil.
West Karun is the name of an oil-rich region Khuzestan that includes several large oilfields, including Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoein with the first three divided into north and south projects. The block holds an estimated 67 billion barrels of oil in place.
According to Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, the oil minister, West Karoun fields as well as South Pars, the giant gas field shared between Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf, top the ministry's priority for development.
Officials say raising the rate of recovery from West Karoun by 1 percent would increase recoverable reserves by 670 million barrels, or some $33 billion in revenues with oil at $50 a barrel.