Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.29 / Trend F.Milad/
The Electric Power Research Centre of Iran (MATN) and Energy Persia Company signed a deal worth $600 million, on Tuesday to develop the Yaran oilfield, west of Iran, the SHANA news agency reported.
The field holds an estimated 1.1 billion barrels of crude reserve, the National Iranian Oil Company's managing director Ahmad Qalebani, told reporters during the signing ceremony.
"Early production of 10,000-15,000 barrels per day is expected to be started within 24 months," the NIOC head said.
Earlier, Mr Qalebani said that 20 contracts will be signed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2012) to develop joint oilfields.
Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in August that the government should consider plans for the development of joint oilfields in the border areas with Iraq, the IRNA news agency reported.
The government should increase the budgets for the development of joint oilfields, Qasemi said at a meeting with the Iranian oil industry contractors.
"The oil industry's infrastructure needs more than 500 trillion rials (about 50 billion U.S. dollars) of investment to achieve Iran's 20-year economic perspective plan goals," Mr Qasemi was quoted as saying.
"By the end of the fifth development plan (2015), the country's oil production must increase to 5.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and this should come from the country's joint fields," the ISNA news agency quoted Mr Qasemi as saying.
Officials have put Iran's current output at between 3.6 million and 4 million bpd. Hormoz Qalavand, head of the National Iranian Southern Oil Company, told the Fars news agency recently and that Iran's oil production is 3.92 million bpd.