Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
Iraq has launched production of oil from a field operated jointly with Iran.
Keyvan Yarahmadi, an Iranian contractor in charge of developing the Azar oil field, confirmed that Iraqi side has already started producing oil in its side, Mehr news agency reported Oct. 15.
The project in Iranian side has been plagued by delays due to the complex geological conditions of the oil field, he added.
According to an existing schedule, Iran’s Oil Ministry was expected to launch production at the filed last year.
The report said the project is very unlikely to come on stream within coming months.
Yarahmadi says that Iranian operator will start early production at the field by March 2017.
According to him, Iran will be capable of producing 30,000 barrels of oil per day from the field once early production starts.
The capacity of producing oil is projected to reach 65,000 barrels per day within the next two years, Yarahmadi added.
The Azar oilfield spans an overall area of 482 square kilometers in southeast of Mehran town in the western Iranian province of Ilam. The field is estimated to hold 2.5 billion barrels of oil in place.
The volume of possible oil reserves to be extracted from Azar is estimated to be around 400 million barrels.