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Iran begins production in oil field shared with Iraq
February 7, 2012
Iran on Tuesday began preliminary production in the Yadavaran oil field in the southwest, shared with neighboring Iraq, with the opening of a first well, the oil ministry's Shana news agency said.
Head of the Oil Engineering and Development Company, Naji Saadouni, said production would reach 20,000 barrels per day by mid-March, Shana reported.
Iran plans to increase the total production of the field to 180,000 barrels per day within three years, Shana said.
Sinopec, China's largest oil refining company, has been involved since 2007 in exploiting the Yadavaran oil field, estimated to hold 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude, as part of a contract worth 3.6 billion dollars.
Sinopec, like many other Chinese companies, was strongly criticized last year by Iran for delays in starting production in Yadavaran, which is already being exploited by Iraq.
China in recent years has signed contracts worth more than 40 billion dollars, following the withdrawal of Western companies in the face of economic sanctions against Iran.
However, analysts say that so far only a fraction of that investment has been realized, and Iran last year warned it would punish Chinese companies if they did not speed up the pace of implementation.
Iran, struggling to attract annual investment of nearly $50 billion to develop its oil and gas field capacity, decided last year to give priority to shared fields already being depleted by other countries.
Thus the Yadavaran and Azadegan oil fields, shared with Iraq, and the giant South Pars gas field, shared with Qatar, have been fast-tracked.
Iran is the second biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with 3.5 million barrels per day, 2.5 million of which are exported, bringing in up to $100 billion last year.
It also ranks second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
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February 7, 2012
Iran on Tuesday began preliminary production in the Yadavaran oil field in the southwest, shared with neighboring Iraq, with the opening of a first well, the oil ministry's Shana news agency said.
Head of the Oil Engineering and Development Company, Naji Saadouni, said production would reach 20,000 barrels per day by mid-March, Shana reported.
Iran plans to increase the total production of the field to 180,000 barrels per day within three years, Shana said.
Sinopec, China's largest oil refining company, has been involved since 2007 in exploiting the Yadavaran oil field, estimated to hold 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude, as part of a contract worth 3.6 billion dollars.
Sinopec, like many other Chinese companies, was strongly criticized last year by Iran for delays in starting production in Yadavaran, which is already being exploited by Iraq.
China in recent years has signed contracts worth more than 40 billion dollars, following the withdrawal of Western companies in the face of economic sanctions against Iran.
However, analysts say that so far only a fraction of that investment has been realized, and Iran last year warned it would punish Chinese companies if they did not speed up the pace of implementation.
Iran, struggling to attract annual investment of nearly $50 billion to develop its oil and gas field capacity, decided last year to give priority to shared fields already being depleted by other countries.
Thus the Yadavaran and Azadegan oil fields, shared with Iraq, and the giant South Pars gas field, shared with Qatar, have been fast-tracked.
Iran is the second biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with 3.5 million barrels per day, 2.5 million of which are exported, bringing in up to $100 billion last year.
It also ranks second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves after Russia.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon
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