The National Iranian Oil Company is taking steps to tender the second development phase of Yadavaran Oilfield in an oil block known as the West Karoun in Khuzestan Province, according to the chief executive officer of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC).
“Documents are being prepared and a tender will be held soon,” Noureddine Shahnazizadeh told ISNA on Saturday.
According to Shahnazizadeh, Iran is drawing 110,000 barrels per day from the joint field with Iraq located 70 kilometers west of the city of Ahvaz in Khuzestan Province near the Iraqi border.
“The extraction rate can reach 135,000 bpd in the first phase,” he said, adding that talks are being held between the NIOC and multinationals, namely French energy giant Total S.A., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Italy’s Eni SpA as well as Japan’s Inpex Corp to participate in the tender to develop the second phase of the field based on Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), a new model of contracts that will be used to develop upstream exploration/production projects.
He noted that the field’s output is expected to reach 180,000 barrels per day in the second phase before exceeding 300,000 bpd in the third. Asked about the western Arab neighbor, he said that Iraq started production from Yadavaran last year.
Based on recent studies, the field’s in-place crude reserves were revised to more than 31 billion barrels from 12 billion barrels. The official said Iran has planned to raise production from Yadavaran in three phases and there are prospects for introducing a fourth and a fifth development phase for the joint field.
Around 83,000 barrels of Yadavaran production is a blend of light crude and the rest is heavy crude.
