Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Six Iranian and foreign firms are negotiating to drill 70 wells at the South Azadegan oilfield, which is shared with Iraq, said Mahmoud Mar'ashi, South Azadegan development project manager.
He added that 185 wells are required to be drilled at the oilfield. Currently, 16 rigs are operating to drill 100 wells, he noted.
"If foreign companies are selected, they will work for a period of two years in the form of usance, and each of them will drill 20 wells," Iran's Shana news agency quoted Mar'ashi as saying on September 27.
Usance refers to the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs. Usance usually applies to items or goods purchased on credit.
Based on studies, four rigs are needed to drill 20 wells, he noted.
Mar'ashi said in August that Iranian contractors drilled 125,000 meters of wells over the course of 19 months at the South Azadegan oilfield, while the Chinese contractor CNPCI had drilled just 50,000 meters of wells.
"After dismissing the CNPCI because of falling behind the schedule in fulfilling its obligations, we managed to hit a record in drilling wells," he noted.
CNPCI signed a deal with the National Iranian Oil Company seven years ago for the development of South Azadegan oilfield. But Iran transferred the development of the oilfield to a consortium of domestic companies as CNPCI had been falling behind the schedule in fulfilling its obligations.
Iran has a number of joint fields with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
The oilfield is projected to produce 320,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in the first phase of its development.
Iran's production from this joint field is still standing at around 50,000 bpd, while Iraq is currently recovering 175,000 bpd of oil from its sector of this field and plans to raise its output to 400,000 bpd.