BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 24. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) is working on a significant project aimed at utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in the management of its oil reservoirs, said Hamid Bovard, Deputy Oil Minister and Head of the NIOC, Trend reports.
Speaking at the third Petrotech Conference in Tehran, Bovard noted that this project is one of the key initiatives of the NIOC.
Recently, meetings have been held within the project framework with the participation of Iranian specialists, and an agreement on further collaboration has been reached.
The Deputy Minister mentioned that one of Iran's neighboring countries is already able to manage over 25 percent of its oil fields using AI technology, which has led to an increase of at least 80 percent in the country's crude oil production. The project in Iran is expected to be implemented soon.
"By using smart technologies in Iran's National Oil Company, a digitalization project will be launched shortly. In this framework, cooperation with startup companies will be established," Bovard said.
To note, the third Petrotech Conference, which opened today and will run for two days in Tehran, is expected to witness the signing of six contracts for the production of key equipment for the oil sector and the presentation of nine new products.
Currently, Iran has 74 active oil fields and 22 gas fields. There are 37 oil fields operating under the Southern Oil Zones National Company of Iran, 14 under the Central Oil Zones Company of Iran, 5 under the Arvandan Oil and Gas Production Company, and 18 under the Offshore Oil Company. Additionally, there are 5 gas fields operating under the Southern Oil Zones National Company of Iran, 13 under the Central Oil Zones Company, 1 under the Pars Oil and Gas Company, and 3 under the Offshore Oil Company.
Iran's total hydrocarbon reserves amount to 1.2 trillion barrels. With existing technology and equipment, Iran can extract 340 billion barrels, but it is only utilizing about 30 percent of its reserves, with 70 percent remaining untapped underground.
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