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NIOC plans 10 major oil, gas exploration projects
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) has introduced 10 major oil and gas exploration projects in the company’s Exploration Directorate which are moving forward based on schedule, IRNA reported on Monday.
According to the NIOC o ce of public relations, the mentioned projects include Persian Gulf, Abadan Plain, North and South Dezfoul, Kopeh-Dagh, Fars, Central Iran, Moghan and Eastern Iran as well as Makran and Oman Sea.
e most important activities done in
the Persian Gulf exploration project, include planning for the completion of exploration drilling operations in the Forouzan area, completing static modeling of the joint
Aria oil eld which has resulted in a substantial increase in the eld’s reservoir,
as well as planning for launching new
drilling operations, signing and executing development project, and processing three- dimensional seismicity of Apadana, Saba, and Nosrat eld’s by year end.
As reported, operational exploration activities in the oil and gas industry require structural studies and up-to-date technologies in the eld of geology and exploration.
In this regard, NIOC’s Exploration Directorate has signed several agreements with Iranian universities and knowledge- based companies for research in various elds of geophysics, geochemistry, unconventional hydrocarbon resources and drilling.
e agreements include a project for quantitative interpretation (QI) of Abadan plain’s seismic cube, research studies on Lorestan Province’s shale oil resources and geochemical study of some hydrocarbon reservoirs in southern Iran as well as a project
for producing 10,000 barrels of a High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) drilling uid.
According to the report, considering
the challenges of exploring hydrocarbon resources, NIOC’s Exploration Directorate has identi ed various research projects and created a roadmap based on the country’s sixth ve-year national development plan (2016-2021) and in line with its organizational strategies.
Since the reimposition of sanctions, Iran has been encouraging domestic companies’ presence in its oil and gas projects, both in exploration and in development sectors.
In exploration sector, as there are many blocks waiting for exploration, NIOC is seriously following up the plans to lay the ground for the private sector’s contribution. tehran tImes
Iran seeks to revive oil
pipeline across Iraq to Syria
amid sanctions
Tehran has discussed with Baghdad the possibility of reopening a pipeline linking Iran and Syria through Iraqi territory to circumvent sanctions.
On July 4, Britain’s naval forces seized Iranian tanker Grace 1, and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar on the pretext that the supertanker had
been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European union’s unilateral sanctions against the war-torn country.
Tehran, however, rejected London’s claim, slamming the seizure as “maritime piracy”.
On August 16, Gibraltar’s government announced it was releasing the supertanker despite pressure from the u.S. for the vessel’s continued detainment.
Soon a er the announcement, the u.S.
Department of Justice unveiled a warrant for the seizure of the ship. Gibraltar, however, knocked back the request.
e united States has also threatened to aggressively enforce its sanctions on those potentially assisting the supertanker.
“ e shipping sector is on notice that we will aggressively enforce u.S. sanctions,” a State Department o cial told Reuters last ursday.
e Iran-Syria pipeline would link Iran with the Syrian port city of Biniyas on the Mediterranean Sea, al-Sumaria television channel reported, citing a source said to be familiar with the proposal.
e trans-Iraq pipeline would allow Iran to also sidestep the Strait of Hormuz for oil transportation and circumvent u.S. sanctions “amid growing fears [the Strait of Hormuz] may be closed in case of direct military confrontation between the united States and its allies with Iran.”
According to the source, the pipeline would consist of two parts. First, Iran would construct a new 1,000km pipeline through Iraq into Syria, going through the Nineveh plain in northern Iraq and entering Syrian territory through Deir al-Zour province, leading to the Syrian coast. Secondly, Iran would reopen the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline, which was shut in 1982 during the Iran-Iraq War. It was revived for three years in 2000 but was severely damaged by airstrikes during
the 2003 u.S. invasion of Iraq. e proposal provides that both the construction of the pipeline and its maintenance would be carried out by Tehran.
e overall capacity of the pipeline is estimated at about 1.25 million barrels of oil per day, which equates to nearly half of Iran’s pre-sanctions crude oil exports, although it is at least 10 times less than the overall volume of crude currently transported through the Strait of Hormuz.
e source pointed out that Baghdad may
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Week 34 27•August•2019