BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 25
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
The National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) signed two contracts with the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry and Sharif University of Technology on the exploration of three oil fields yesterday on January 24, Trend reports referring to the NISOC's website.
According to the report, the contracts were signed between the Technical Director of NISOC Sadegh Fatollahi, the rector of the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry Jafar Tofighi and vice rector of Sharif University of Technology Mohammad Reza Movahedi.
Speaking the signing ceremony Sadegh Fatollahi said that exploration operations will be carried out into the Ahvaz, Rag Sefid and Bibi Hakima oil fields in Iran.
"In total, these fields contain about 93 billion barrels of crude oil. More than 1 million barrels of oil are extracted from the fields at present,” he added.
The director noted that the value of the signed contracts is 2.6 million euro and it is hoped that exploration operations on these fields will be launched soon.
The National Iranian South Oil Company, a subordinate of National Iranian Oil Company, operates 45 large and small hydrocarbon deposits in an area of 400,000 square kilometers from Iran's Bushehr Province to the north of Khuzestan Province. The company extracts about 80 percent of Iran's crude oil and 16 percent of gas. The company reportedly extracts about 3 million barrels of oil per day.
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's hydrocarbon reserves are recoverable, while 71 percent remain underground.