Page 10 - MEOG Week 12 2022

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

NIOC launches Khesht oilfield,

reiterates expansion plans

IRAN THE National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) this week Hatami was quoted by official oil and gas media
announced that it has formally launched produc- outlet Shana as saying: “The early phase of the
tion at the Khesht oilfield on the border of Iran’s field will be operational in the first half of next
Fars and Bushehr Provinces. year with the launch of three wells, and the
NIOC managing director Mohsen Khojasteh produced oil will be sent to Nargesi Centre via
Mehr said that the field had come on stream a 10-inch [254-mm] pipeline.” He added that a
at a rate of 9,000 barrels per day (bpd) from total of five wells would be required to complete
three wells, with a further two wells nearing the field’s development.
completion. Meanwhile, the ICOFC website lists achiev-
“The operation to build the necessary infra- ing 30,000 bpd of output at Khesht and develop-
structure to make the oilfield operational was ment of “transmission to Gonaveh manifold for
carried out by one of the capable domestic com- export” as one of the company’s active projects.
panies under the supervision of NIOC experts,”
he said, noting that cumulative production had Nationwide increase
reached 125,000 bpd. As progress to expand oil production contin-
The Iranian Central Oil Fields Co. (ICOFC) – ues, Oil Minister Javad Owji reiterated plans
a subsidiary of NIOC – is overseeing the project to increase capacity from the current level of
with the South Zagros Oil and Gas Production around 3.8mn bpd to 5.7mn bpd by the end of
Co. (SZOGPC) affiliate responsible for Khesht’s the decade, with exports also seen increasing in
development under a broader programme to the short term.
drill 90 new development wells and 17 workover He was quoted by state television as saying:
wells over the next five years. “In Parliament, lawmakers decided to raise the
In October, SZOGPC said it had achieved ceiling of exports of oil and condensates from
99% completion of the early oil production 1.2mn [bpd] to 1.4mn [bpd]. The Oil Ministry
stage at Khesht, targeting production of 20,000 will do everything in its power to realise the level
bpd, with later development to add another set in the budget.”
10,000 bpd across the Sarvestan and Saadatabad According to data from OPEC, Iran’s oil pro-
reservoirs. duction averaged 2.405mn bpd in 2021, up from
Last year, ICOFC managing director Ramin 2mn bpd in 2020, but still well below capacity.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 23•March•2022