Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.22
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: The development of Iran's North Azadegan oilfield is 61 percent complete, the Shana News Agency quoted the managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, Abdolreza Hosseinnejad as saying on Jan.22.
The first phase of the development project will come on stream in the next 18 months, he added.
Once the second phase of the project comes on stream, the field's output will increase to 150,000 bpd, he said.
The North Azadegan oilfield, located in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan, has estimated reserves of 6 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil and can produce 75,000 barrels per day.
The Azadegan oilfield is one of the biggest oilfields that have been discovered in the world in the past thirty years. The field is located 80 km west of Ahvaz close to the Iraqi border.
The field holds 33.2 billion barrels of in-situ oil.
Iran and China signed a 1.76-billion-U.S. dollar deal in January 2009 for the initial development of the North Azadegan oilfield. The deal was signed between the China National Petroleum Corp. and the National Iranian Oil Co.