Iran's South Azadegan Oil Field's Crude Output to Rise

Iran's South Azadegan Oil Field's Crude Output to Rise

Thursday, April 14, 2011
Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
by A.Yusifzade, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

Iran 's South Azadegan oilfield's crude production is expected to reach 320,000 barrels per day (bpd) after completing the first phase of the development project during the next four years, the Managing director of Iran's Petroleum Engineering and Development Company Naji Sadouni said, according to Shana.

Sadouni said that completing the second phase of the project will boost the output up to 600,000 bpd.

China will invest $2.5 billion in developing the projects of the South Azadegan oilfield on Iran's side of the Iraqi border, Sadouni told Mehr news agency.

The first phase of the development project has already been started, Sadouni added.

Sadouni put the current output of the field at about 55,000 bpd.

He did not specify which Chinese company would deal with the development.

In 2009, the China National Petroleum Corporation and the National Iranian Oil Company signed a $1.76 billion deal to develop the neighboring North Azadegan field, where they hope to extract 75,000 bpd.

At present, Sinopec is engaged in the Yadavaran oilfield, which is adjacent to Azadegan oilfield.

Azadegan oil field, covering a 900 square km area, is located 80 km west of Ahwaz city in the south-western province of Khuzestan.

Azadegan is one of the world's largest deposits with 42 billion-barrel-reserves.

Iran has OPEC's second-highest oil output. After Russia, its natural gas reserves rank second in the world.