Page 11 - MEOG Week 06 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

NIOC hires Dana Energy for

Sohrab field development

IRAN THE National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) this week many of which are shared with neighbouring
announced that it had awarded an $800mn con- Iraq. A second well was drilled in 2014 to explore
tract for the development of the south-western the southern part of the field.
Sohrab oilfield to local firm Dana Energy. NIOC and Dana signed a memorandum of
Under the 20-year deal, Dana will seek to understanding (MoU) for the field’s develop-
achieve a production capacity of 30,000 barrels ment in 2012, but the deal’s implementation was
per day of oil, up from the current 10,000 bpd, repeatedly delayed, in part because Sohrab was
and reach a cumulative 160mn barrels from a one of the fields Iran designated for international
total estimated 2bn barrels of oil in place (OIP). investment that never arrived.
The contract was awarded during a ceremony Under the 2012 deal, Dana was meant to
attended by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, carry out a technical report, sign a heads of
Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji and NIOC’s agreement (HoA) and prepare a master devel-
CEO Mohsen Khojastehmehr. It will see Dana opment plan before commencing full field
take over the financing, development and ongo- development. This envisaged a 48- to 52-month
ing operation of Sohrab. development phase to expand capacity to 30,000
The contract will involve Dana drilling 20 bpd at a cost of $500-600mn.
wells, installing downhole pumps at 14 wells, as At that point, 150mn barrels were thought to
well as a compressor with three-phase pumps, be recoverable.
implementing a new oil pipeline and construct- Sohrab is located at the northern edge of the
ing a separation and metering unit. West Karoun oilfield cluster, which is responsible
In 2012, the Arvandan Oil and Gas Produc- for 420,000-450,000 bpd of oil production from
tion Co.’s Sohrab-1 well proved the presence reserves in the tens of billions of barrels. The
of oil across the Asmari, Ilam, Kadjomi and asset is neighboured to the south by Azadegan,
Sarvak formations, with deposits also found in Iran’s largest oilfield which holds 32bn barrels of
the Gadovan and Fahlyan reservoirs. Ilam and OIP. Output there is seen reaching 320,000 bpd
Sarvak hold heavier crude, with lighter grades by mid-2023, with a second phase development
found in the Kazhdomi and Gadovan. These expected to eventually achieve production of
formations are common across fields in the area, 600,000 bpd.™

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