Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 24 / Trend F.Milad/
Two drilling rigs are currently in operation in the South Azadegan oilfield, putting Iran ahead of schedule in tapping the field which is associated with Iraq.
The Japanese Inpex quitted the Azadegan oilfield development project more than three years ago. Since then, the first and the second phases of early production at this joint oilfield have come on stream with the output of 55,000 barrels per day, Pana news agency reported.
This is while Iraq has started developing the oilfield in cooperation with Malaysia's Petronas, Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and U.S. Halliburton with the aim of producing 1.6-1.7 million barrels of crude per day.
A Chinese company has offered a comprehensive development plan to the National Iranian Oil Company based on 360,000 barrels per day output.
The Chinese company has so far invested some $6 million in the project and it will invest more than $200 million once the project is launched.
The National Iranian Oil Company has previously said that it will invest $12 billion in the project in the next ten years to reach the oilfield's output to 600,000 barrels per day in the first two development phases. The first phase is projected to come on stream in 52 months.
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 is one of the world's largest oilfields, with estimated reserves of 42 billion barrels.