Iran plans to develop oil, gas fields with neighbors

PanARMENIAN.Net - Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said Iran plans to sign contracts over the development of all its joint oil and gas fields with its neighbors in the current Iranian year ending in March 2013, Fars News Agency reports.

Qalebani told a specialized oil industry seminar that the implementation of deals signed earlier for the development of oil and gas fields would be accelerated. "In the meantime, negotiations would be held with domestic and foreign companies to enhance recovery from old fields," he said.

Qalebani noted that Iran's daily output is to reach 4.1 million barrels from last year's four million barrels. He said the daily output is forecast to reach 4.5 million, 4.6 million and 5.1 million barrels in the coming years. The senior oil official said the projected oil recovery enhancement requires investment.

According to the fifth five-year economic development plan ending in 2015, he said, Iran should export 3.36 million barrels of oil.

Iran holds 155 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 34 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, he said, adding oil accounts for 42 percent of the country's hydrocarbon reserves.

Qalebani said Iran is producing 650 million cubic meters per day of gas. The figure, he added, would soar to 1.472 billion cubic meters by 2015 when the giant South Pars Gas Field would have undergone more development.