The oilfields on the west bank of Karoun River are considered to be the youngest fields in Iran. These fields are North Azadegan, South Azadegan, North Yaran, South Yaran, and Yadavaran, with 64 billion barrels of in situ oil in aggregate.
Regardless of the size, the fields are of importance in terms of maximum exploitation because of their being shared with the neighboring country.
The North and South Azadegan fields are even more important in this regard and that’s why the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi (the 13th administration) has prioritized development of these fields.
The oil ministry of the 13th administration focused on maximum utilization of domestic capacities to avoid linking the development of the fields to the fate of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which is being negotiated to be revived.
In the short-term, the 13th administration has increased the drilling operations by 60 percent and began extraction of oil from 20 wells in addition to the previously active ones.
As a mid-term plan, National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has taken measures to simultaneously develop the second phases of North and South Azadegan fields with a single contractor through an integrated reservoir engineering management.
The plan aims to leverage collective capacities of Iranian economic giants for the first time, by attracting state and private banks, Iran’s National Development Fund (NDF) and domestic exploration and production companies.
In addition to the integrated development of the fields, the plan will also improve Iran's production capacity and fill up the vacancy for foreign manufacturers and EPC and EPD contractors.
With 7 billion dollars in investment, the plan is also considered the biggest government-invested project in recent decades, surpassing the unfinished contract with the French company Total that left Iran after the United States resumed sanctions against Iran after pulling out of the JCPOA.
Production from Azadegan field will increase from 190,000 bpd to 570,000 bpd which means 200 percent growth in production. This will add $14 billion to Iran's revenue from oil exports.
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