Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 14
By Dalga Khatinoglu – Trend:
Iran’s Oil Minister said that developing Azar oil field is Iran’s first priority in talks with Russian Gazprom Neft.
Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said during an interview to Etemaad newspaper on Aug. 14 that Gazprom Neft and Iran’s Oil Industries' Engineering & Construction Group (OIEC) have been negotiating to prepare a proposal for Iran’s Oil Ministry on establishing a consortium for the development of this project. “After receiving their proposal, the ministry will make a decision on it,” Zanganeh said.
Currently, Iran produces 15,000 b/d from Azar field. Iran plans to increase the Azar’s output to 65,000 b/d.
According to the report, prepared by Oil Ministry and seen by Trend, first phase of Azar field, with 2.5 billion barrels of in-situ oil reserves and 16 percent recovery rate, has been completed by 69.92 percent in July, compared to 68.52 percent in June.
Iran and Gazprom Neft also have two memorandum of understanding to research Cheshmeh Khosh and Changouleh fields. The first with 7.74 billion barrels of oil in-situ reserves currently produces 72,000 b/d, however the latter is a green field with 2.367 mb/d in-situ reserves.