Azerbaijan , Baku, March 3 / Trend, A.Yusifzade /
The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), will begin to drill 88 wells in north part of the Azadegan oil field from March 21, 2011, Shana reported.
Earlier Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company Managing director Naji Sa'douni said that China will invest $2.5 billion in the South Azadegan oilfield development projects in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.
According to Naji Sa'douni, the first phase of the development project has been sanctioned.
Naji Sa'douni put the current output of the field at about 55,000 barrels per day (bpd), saying that it is expected to reach 320,000 bpd upon the completion of the first phase. "The second phase of the project will boost output to 600,000 bpd."
Naji Sa'douni did not elaborate which Chinese company would undertake the development.
In 2009, the China National Petroleum Corporation and the National Iranian Oil Company signed a $1.76 billion deal to develop the neighboring North Azadegan field, where they hope to extract 75,000 bpd.
The Azadegan deposit is one of the world's largest, with reserves of 42 billion barrels.
Iran and China are also close to signing a $7 billion deal to cooperate in the development projects of two oil refineries in the southwestern Iranian city of Abadan and the central city of Isfahan.
The refineries are scheduled to produce 30 million liters of gasoline and diesel per day.
Earlier Iran's deputy minister of petroleum for planning and supervision on hydrocarbon resources, Mohsen Khojastemehr said 2,400 oil wells will be drilled over the Fifth Five Year Development Plan lasting by 2016.
Khojastemehr also said that some $150 billion would be invested in the upstream sector over the Fifth Five Year Development Plan of which $40 billion would be allocated to well drilling.
NIDC as a subsidiary of NIOC in upstream sector is in charge of 90 percent of drilling of oil and gas wells across the county. The company was established in 1979.
Iran has OPEC's second-highest oil output, and ranks second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia.