Page 14 - MEOG Week 10 2021
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MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
Iran kicks off engineering
work at Siahmakan oilfield
IRAN THE National Iranian South Oil Co. (NISOC) under a programme to increase the country’s
has begun engineering, procurement and con- crude production capacity by more than 180,000
struction (EPC) and engineering, procurement bpd from 28 reservoirs in southern Iran.
and drilling (EPD) work for the development of In October, NISOC’s parent firm, the
the onshore Siahmakan oilfield. National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC), signed rental
Speaking to the official state energy media agreements for 16 drilling rigs with Pasargad
outlet Shana, the company said that the work as well as Global Petrotech Kish Co., Petro
covered by the project includes the drilling of Iran Development Co., Qeshm Oil and Energy
four development wells, as well as construction Industries, and Petrotenco Co., all of which were
of a segregation complex, a booster cluster and recently awarded contracts to carry out work on
oil pressure booster with a capacity of 10,000 oil and gas fields in the country.
barrels per day (bpd), as well as a 12-inch (305- Reza Dehqan, NIOC’s deputy director for
mm) gas pipeline and an 8-inch (203-mm) oil development and engineering affairs, said that
pipeline. the rigs would be used to drill wells at the Zilaei,
The field is located 40 km north-east of Mansourabad, Siahmakan, Ahvaz (phases one
Bandar Genaveh in Bushehr Province and was and four) and Maroun (phases five and 12).
discovered in 1974. Production commenced in NISOC currently accounts for nearly 80%
the mid-1970s, and reserves are estimated to be of Iran’s total crude output and is carrying out
30-40mn barrels. a 280-well drilling campaign to increase output
NISOC awarded a contract to expand pro- from southern Iran that began last year. Mean-
duction at Siahmakan to Pasargad Energy while, in mid-2019, it said that the company’s
Development Co. in May 2020, covering field production would expand by around 340,000
development through an integrated EPD/EPC bpd within two years. Roughly 70% of the com-
package. pany’s project is focused on the south-western
This was only announced in August as one Khuzestan province, with the remainder cover-
of 13 contracts awarded to 14 local companies ing neighbouring provinces.
More doubt cast on Turkey’s Sakarya find
TURKEY MORE doubt has been cast on Turkey’s so-called terms. Let us neither underestimate nor exag-
breakthrough gas discovery in the Sakarya field gerate it. The discovery of gas has an economic
of the Black Sea as well as on the technological value. However, drilling one [test] well and then
ability of the country to exploit it. declaring a reserve is not correct. Further tests
Initially, Turkey said the field could hold should be done. Wells should be opened. The
320bn cubic metres (bcm), but – as recapped by reserve cannot be understood from the very first
Viktor Katona, a group physical trader at MOL day. The declared estimates are speculative.”
Group and analyst at the Russian International Turkey, said Katona, would need foreign
Affairs Council in an article for OilPrice – Turk- expertise and knowhow to draw gas from the
ish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan subse- reserve.
quently announced in October that the reserve He added: “The Black Sea has a unique mor-
had been upgraded to 405 bcm. phology. The shallow shorelines quickly turn
Katona wrote: “This happened after not more into ultra-deep waters. According to Wood
than one exploratory well, raising eye-brows with Mackenzie researcher Thomas Purdie, ‘the basin
industry experts. The extractable reserve value of center is deep, cold, and highly anoxic. These
the field is highly uncertain which means there harsh, challenging conditions require specialist
is a cloud of uncertainty concerning profitabil- experience, not currently at TPAOs disposal. The
ity.” He also cited energy analyst Necdet Pamir as Sakarya development will almost be at the deep-
saying that “it is not scientific to declare the size est limits of the Black Sea. This is an ultra-harsh
of a field and then simply convert it into dollar environment.”
P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 10 10•March•2021