BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 17
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The Ministry of Petroleum of Iran is not against the privatization of the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), Deputy Oil Minister for Planning, Houshang Falahatian told Mehr news agency, Trend reports.
According to the deputy minister, the Iranian Privatization Organization must decide on the privatization of this company.
Falahatian added that the privatization process of the National Iranian Drilling Company is being carried out within the rules.
The National Iranian Drilling Company is one of the largest companies in the Iranian oil sector. The company has more than 70 drilling rigs and a number of oil and gas wells drilled by the company in Iran after the Islamic Revolution.
The issue of privatization of the National Iranian Drilling Company is discussed from time to time. However, due to the lack of transparency in the privatization process, the privatization of this company has not yet taken place. The Iranian government is implementing plans to sell state property in many areas in order to reduce government spending.
During the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 21, 2020), the National Iranian Drilling Company drilled more than 31,000 meters of 39 oil and gas wells.
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.