BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 26. Iran is striving to boost production by discovering and developing new oil and gas fields, even if small, through the use of advanced technologies, said Hamid Bovard, Deputy Minister of Oil and CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Trend reports.
Speaking at an event dedicated to oil exploration in Iran, Bovard pointed out that strides have been made in the game plan to tap into hydrocarbon reserves, with wheels turning to bring the private sector into the fold through a variety of contracts.
The deputy minister emphasized that unconventional reservoirs across different provinces require focused attention, particularly shale oil deposits in Lorestan Province, located in western Iran. While discovering large oil fields has become increasingly challenging, a substantial portion of the country’s oil reserves remains undeveloped.
To note, oil was first discovered in Iran on May 26, 1908, in the Masjed Soleyman oil field, where Iran's Masjed Soleyman Oil and Gas Production Company has been operating under the auspices of the National Company of Southern Oil Zones. The Masjed Soleyman oil field is located 125 kilometers northeast of Ahvaz city, Khuzestan province. This oil field was discovered in 1908. It is reported that the field holds about 6.2 billion barrels of oil. A total of 1.2 billion barrels of oil have been produced from this field as of January 2021. Currently, 5,000 barrels of oil have been produced from this oil field. Iran plans to increase the production of this oil field by 25,000 barrels per day at first and 35,000 barrels per day in the next stage.
Iran's total hydrocarbon reserves are 1.2 trillion barrels. Iran can produce 340 billion barrels of this gas with existing technological equipment. Iran can use about 30 percent, while 70 percent remains unused underground.
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