Azerbaijan , Baku, Sept. 21/Trend A. Qurbanova/
Iran will start producing a Ferdowsi heavy oil field during its Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015), however the development of the offshore oil field requires considerable investment, Mehr News Agency reported quoting Planning Manager of National Iranian Oil Company Abdol Mohammad Delparish as saying.
"Currently delineation studies for developing the heavy oil field in the Persian Gulf have been completed and it's predicted that oil production from Ferdowsi Field will start by the end of the Fifth Development Plan in 2010-2015," he said.
He noted that the National Iranian Oil Company plans to develop onshore heavy oil fields, including Koh-e-mond and Zageh.
Iran 's residual oil reserve is more than 560 billion barrels with the capacity to produce another 140 billion barrels; the volume of heavy crude oil is estimated to 70 billion barrels.
The National Iranian Oil Company reduced oil production saying that the priority is to preserve and keep the current production level, considering that oil fields in some regions are old.
Iran has OPEC's second-highest oil output, and ranks second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia.