Deputy Head of NIOC for Development and Engineering Affairs Gholamreza Manouchehri, who was addressing an international oil and energy conference on Tuesday morning, pointed to the need to limit greenhouse emission and further environmental monitoring on the part of producers saying “several geo-energy developments are taking place as the US has turned into a gas exporter and is likely to export oil in the future hence the need for Iran to maintain its position in the field of energy.”
The official recalled that Iran, for an extended period of time, has recovered oil using conventional methods and even by injection of water or gas in certain fields asserting “today, we have conceded to an output level of nearly four million barrels per day while many of the country’s reserves are suffering from a plunge in production,” he asserted.
He pointed to the uplift in gas production thanks to developments in South Pars phases stating that the current gas output level in South Pars field currently stands at 500 million cubic meters and the share of natural gas in the country’s energy market has climbed to about 70 per cent.
The NIOC official stressed that 85 per cent of urban and suburban population of Iran enjoy access to the national gas network; “despite the upsurge in oil and gas output, certain raw layers still remain untouched.”
Referring to the objective to boost recovery factor of oil and gas fields maintaining that “recovery factor in oilfields needs to jump from 26 to about 40 per cent, an endeavor which requires 30 years of continuous effort.”
“Assuming that the overall capacity is 800 billion barrels, the 30-year plan will add one percent equal to eight billion barrels to Iran’s oil reserves,” commented Manouchehri adding that the scheme will add approximately 400 billion dollars to the worth of Iranian oil and gas reserves.
The official warned that any loss of opportunities to exploit existing capacities, especially in joint fields, will give way to neighbors to carry the day.
Deputy Head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said 30 billion dollars of investment had to be attracted to expand upstream oil sector underlining that, under the terms of the Sixth National Development Plan, if the aggregate total of investment hits 200 billion dollars in a five-year period, domestic investors will enjoy 70 percent of the investment share.
Emphasizing that the country lags behind in the recycling sector, Gholamreza Manouchehri reiterated that certain oil-producing countries have made advancements in the issue.
“Iran also possesses excellent capacities for shale oil production which will move forward in line with developments in technology,” he concluded.