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economy to the point where Tehran will be pressured to come to the negotiating table and accept a toughened up version of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers under which Tehran would see further curbs on its nuclear development programme, restrictions introduced on its ballistic missile development programme and the banning of military backing for certain militia groups in Middle East conflict zones.
Washington has been attempting to halt all Iranian oil exports since May by threatening secondary sanctions on any buyers and on other crucial players on the world oil markets such as shipping and insurance firms.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has announced the discovery of a new oilfield in the southern Khuzestan Province, holding an estimated 53bn barrels of crude.​ A find of this size would rank in the top five oil discoveries of all time.
Iranian officials regularly make claims of new oil and gas fields, partly because of the lack of development in the industry owing to 40 years of the Islamic Republic and the oil industry being under sanctions limiting options for development.
“My good news is that the staff of the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) in the exploration section, after years of efforts, especially in 2016, have discovered a field,” said the Iranian President in an address to the people of Yazd.
He said the field straddled from Bostan to Omidiyeh County in Khuzestan measuring nearly 2,400 km and 80 metres in thickness.
Rouhani added that the Iranian oil revenues would grow by around $32bn if the “extraction rate from the oilfield increases [by] only 1%”.
The location of the field is consistent with Iran’s other main oil discoveries, neighbouring the oil-rich West Karoun region. North and South Azadegan are key fields in the West Karoun oilfield cluster, which also includes North Yaran, South Yaran, and Yadavaran.
Together, the group are estimated to contain at least 67bn barrels of oil in place, but the average recovery rate across West Karoun is just 5-6%.
Output at Yadavaran is now around 120,000 bpd. The second phase entails the drilling of 105 wells to achieve 180,000 bpd, with Phase 3 targeting output of 300,000 bpd.
Under the operatorship of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Co. (PEDEC), South Azadegan is currently producing 110,000 bpd, which will be expanded to 320,000 bpd once infrastructure improvements are complete. The region is located near the border with Iraq, with the Azadegan reservoir being tapped from both sides. It is known on the Iraqi side as Majnoon (Insane), owing to its large size.
9.1.2 ​Automotive sector news
Prices of imported hybrid or low-fuel consumption cars in Iran have leapt by up to Iranian rial (IRR) 1bn (€7,300) in the past few days since the petrol price hike that sparked nationwide demonstrations was brought it, TIK.ir reported on November 18.
Despite government efforts to reduce pollution in the capital Tehran, which is vulnerable to smog, hybrid vehicles make up less than 2% of the overall vehicle stock of the country. The Rouhani administration previously offered significant discounts on electric-hybrid cars—at one point it reduced the import tariff to 5% for specific models. However, when importers cottoned onto the availability of the relatively cheap vehicles, the government quickly put the tariffs back up.
43​ IRAN Country Report​ December 2019 www.intellinews.com