Iran has made inroads in its oil and gas exploration sector with discoveries of 13 oil and gas reservoirs over the past three years, says the head of exploration department at the National Iranian Oil Company.
“In-place oil and gas reserves in the newly discovered fields in the south are estimated to hold 6.5bn barrels of crude oil and 1.7tn cubic meters of natural gas,” Saleh Hendi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency this week.
Giving a breakdown, Hendi said that out of the 13 latest discoveries, nine are gas fields.
Commenting on the discovery of a gas field in Fars Province, the official said the Pajan field contains an estimated 550bn cubic meters of natural gas plus 312mn barrels of gas condensates.
According to Hendi, in-place gas reserves in Khar-Tang and Charak gas fields in Bushehr and Hormozgan provinces are estimated at 453 bcm and 481 bcm, respectively.
Pointing to Yadman Oilfield in Khuzestan Province, which holds some 2.8bn barrels of crude, he noted that studies in the region have resulted in the discovery of Sepehr Oilfield with estimated in-place oil reserves of 2.2bn barrels.
“Plans are underway to extend oil and gas development studies in the Sea of Oman over the next five years,” said Bahman Soleimani, the deputy head of exploration department at NIOC, adding that Iran has so far not drilled in the Oman Sea.
“The volume of oil and gas reserves in the Sea of Oman is yet to be estimated, but based on initial findings we predict significant energy reservoirs,” he said.
To explore and extract the potentially massive hydrocarbon deposits in the sea, Iran needs advanced offshore drilling technology, officials say.
