Page 63 - IRANRptSep21

Iran finalises deals with local firms
in February 2018 and was running at full capacity by June that year. The third phase was inaugurated in October 2019, although it had already been operational for several months before the official opening.
Each phase was designed to produce 12mn litres per day (lpd) of Euro 5 gasoline, plus 4.5mn lpd of Euro 4 standard diesel, 1mn lpd of kerosene and 300,000 lpd of LPG.
Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh in January oversaw the signing of eight deals between the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) and local companies to maintain and increase production levels for seven southern oilfields and one offshore asset.
As reported by Middle East Oil & Gas (MEOG), the $1.2bn worth of deals cover the offshore Reshadat oilfield as well as others located in the Bushehr, Fars, Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad and Hormozgan provinces.
Deals were signed on behalf of NIOC by subsidiaries National Iranian South Oil Co. (NISOC) and Iranian Offshore Oil Co. (IOOC) and follow a larger raft of 13 contracts awarded in August last year worth an estimated $1.78bn targeting a production increase of 185,000 barrels per day.
The announcement comes as part of a nationwide effort to increase production by 355,000 bpd at a total of 33 fields. Under this umbrella initiative a total of 22 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms have agreed deals for the 33 assets with two yet to be signed.
Some of the same companies picked up contracts in both sets of awards, with the latest round of contracts focusing mainly on smaller assets than those handed out in August.
A contract for the Golkhari oilfield was awarded to North Drilling Co. (Sina Energy Gostar Holding), which is owned by the Bonyad-e Mostazafan Foundation, a religious endowment for war veterans and the poor. Both fall under the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (EIKO).
A deal for the third and fourth phases of the 1.1bn barrel Gachsaran oilfield was agreed with the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Co. (IOEC) which previously picked up a job on the third phase of the Maroun oilfield.
Meanwhile, PetroIran Development Co. (PEDCO) was awarded work on the Binak oilfield, following the August award of a job on the 3.7bn barrel Mansourabad oilfield.
Work on the Solabdar field was apportioned to a consortium of Qeshm Oil and Energy Industries and Maroun Karan, which also jointly won a contract for projects 1 and 4 at the supergiant Ahvaz field in August. Ahvaz was discovered in 1958, holding 63bn barrels of oil in place and is operated by NIOC subsidiary Karoun Oil and Gas Production Co. (KOGPC).
A consortium of the National Iranian Drilling Co. (NIDC) and Jahanpars Engineering & Construction Co. was a repeat winner, adding a job on the Lali Bangestan field to the contract for the Balaroud oilfield they won in August. Khatam-al Anbiya Construction Headquarters (KAA), the engineering arm of the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was awarded by far the largest contract covering work on the second, third and fifth phases of Ahvaz as well as the offshore Reshadat.
Meanwhile, Mashin Sazi Arak in which KAA is known to hold shares was awarded a deal for the Bibi Hakimeh oilfield which has around 500mn barrels of oil remaining.
While these contract awards to local companies should come as little surprise to Iran watchers given Tehran propensity for pushing forward with the development of domestic assets without the help of foreign firms prohibited from entering the Iranian market by US-led sanctions, they are perhaps more
63 IRAN Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com