BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 21
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend
Eight new exploration wells will be drilled in Iran in the current Iranian year (began March 20, 2020), Head of the exploration department of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Saleh Hendi said, Trend reports referring to official website of the company.
According to Hendi, six of these wells will be drilled onshore and two offshore.
One of the offshore wells - Yalda well - is being drilled in cooperation with the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) and the Iranian Pars Oil and Gas Company. Another offshore well is located near the island of Siri at the Hormuzgan province in southern Iran.
Hendi added that excavation work will continue this year in five exploration wells, which began drilling last Iranian year (from March 21, 2019 to March 20, 2020). In general, drilling of eight wells is expected to be completed this year.
The official said that all wells that have been drilled in the last two years proved to be productive. The last unsuccessful well was recorded in the summer of 2017.
"A total of 18,000 meters of exploration wells were drilled in the last Iranian year (from March 21, 2019 through March 20, 2020). On average, five drilling rigs were commissioned every month, and drilling of four wells has been completed," he said.
Although no official statistics have been released, it can be said that Iran ranked first in 2019 in terms of oil and gas exploration, the official noted.
Iran has 125 oil fields and 59 gas fields. The country's total hydrocarbon reserves are estimated at 836 billion barrels.
With available technology and equipment, Iran can extract 239 billion barrels. Thus, 29 percent of the country hydrocarbon reserves are recoverable, while 71 percent remain underground.