Page 11 - MEOG Week 34 2021
P. 11
MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
Iran announces Caspian gas discovery
IRAN IRAN is hopeful of confirming a huge new gas accounts for around 40% of Iran’s estimated 33.8
deposit located in the Iranian sector of the Cas- tcm of gas reserves and around 80% of Iranian
pian Sea, large enough to supply around a fifth gas production.
of Europe’s gas needs, according to the coun- Iranian success in the Caspian had previ-
try’s Khazar Exploration and Production Co. ously been limited to the Alborz and Sardar-e
(KEPCO). Jangal fields. The latter was discovered in 2002
The Chalous structure is located in the at a time when Iran’s total share of the Caspian
2,260-square km Caspian Sea Block 29 and was gas take was assumed to be around 11 tcf (312
previously identified by KEPCO. It lies around bcm). Chalous is located around 50-60km south
135km north of the port of Noshahr. of Sardar-e Jangal. In 2012, a routine exploration
Its development could facilitate the buildout at Sardar-e Jangal led to the discovery of an oil
of a new gas hub in northern Iran to comple- layer – at 728 metres – that is now estimated to
ment the southern gas hub centred on the mas- hold 2bn barrels of quality crude, of which at
sive South Pars field in the Persian Gulf that Iran least 500mn barrels is thought to be recoverable.
shares with Qatar. Following the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran had
KEPCO is the principal developer for the hoped to license Caspian exploration blocks
field, but technical and financial assistance will under its Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) frame-
come from Russia and China, according to a work and pursue development of Sardar-e Jan-
report by OilPrice.com, which on August 20 said gal. OilPrice.com added that Iran has a new
Chalous is a “geopolitical gamechanger”. 20-year agreement with Russia covering polit-
The price and destination of Chalous gas ical, security, military, defence and economic
would be co-ordinated with Russia, “adding to cooperation that enables Moscow to keep de
the energy power that Moscow has over Europe, facto control over where and at what price the
already a key matter of contention between vast majority of Iran’s gas is sold.
Europe and its Nato partner, the U.S.,” the pub- “Additionally, Iran has a high success rate of
lication wrote. natural gas exploration, in terms of wildcat drill-
KEPCO CEO Ali Osouli has said the Chalous ing, which is estimated at around 80 percent,
structure is estimated to hold gas reserves equiv- compared to the world average success rate of
alent to a quarter of the supergiant South Pars 30-35 percent. It has always been vital to Russia,
gas field. South Pars has an estimated 14.2 tril- therefore, to ensure that Iranian gas did not flood
lion cubic metres (tcm) of gas reserves in place into Europe and thus undermine Russia’s key
plus 18bn barrels of gas condensate. It already lever of power across the continent,” it added.
Week 34 25•August•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
