Page 51 - IRANRptJun22

Iran’s oil exports running at level 40% higher than a year ago says NIOC CEO
Iran maintains oil, gas expansion push
metres of gas and 18bn barrels of gas condensates. In Qatar, the gas asset is known as the North Dome and is responsible for the vast majority of the island nation’s production. SPOL is the Iranian extension of Qatar’s Al-Shaheen oilfield from which QatarEnergy and partner TotalEnergies produce upwards of 300,000 bpd.
The secretive deal follows the announcement last week that talks are ongoing between NIOC and Russian firms for the development of two Iranian oilfields, widely believed to be Ab Teymour and Mansouri, for which Lukoil had previously agreed terms.
Pars Phase 11
Work is progressing on the final development phase of the project to tap South Pars’ gas resource, with the company responsible providing an update this week.
Mohammad Meshkinfam, CEO of Pars Oil and Gas Co. (POGC) – another subsidiary of NIOC – said that Phase 11 would be capable of producing 12 mcm per day by winter this year.
POGC holds ultimate responsibility for the development of South Pars, with fellow NIOC affiliate Petropars carrying out jobs on the surface and subsurface.
Speaking to the Ministry of Petroleum’s Shana media outlet, Meshkinfam said: “According to the gas production plan of this field, this [Iranian calendar] year, output will increase by 40 mcm per day.”
Iran's oil export volume is running at a level 40% higher than was seen a year ago even though US sanctions aimed at the country's petroleum industry are still in place, official news agency Shana on April 3 reported National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) CEO Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr as saying. On April 1, Tasnim News Agency reported Oil Minister Javid Owji as stating that Iran's oil production, at more than 3.8bn barrels per day (bpd), had reached pre-sanctions levels.
Iran uses discounts and grey market tactics aimed at avoiding sanctions enforcers to encourage buyer nations to keep accepting its crude oil shipments. China is its main market. Washington is widely seen as presently and largely standing off on sanctions enforcement on Iranian oil sales given that Iran and the US are currently attempting to successfully complete the Vienna talks to relaunch the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA.
If a JCPOA reinstatement, which would involve the lifting of US economic sanctions on Tehran, could be achieved, Iran would be expected to quickly pick up many more ready buyers of its crude because various countries are boycotting Russian oil shipments in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Tehran is proceeding with efforts to expand oil and gas production capacity as it works towards ambitious targets.
What: Iran this week announced progress on increasing oil capabilities while kicking off efforts to add to gas flows.
Why: The country aims to reach 5.7mn bpd of oil capacity by the end of the decade while hiking gas output to 1.5 bcm per day.
What Next: Expansion to these levels will require upwards of $200bn, though with less than 5% of this so far sourced and the country’s downstream also requiring investment, there are significant question marks about whether the targets will be met.
In an otherwise quiet week in Middle Eastern oil and gas markets, Iran maintained its upstream momentum as it seeks to increase production of both oil and gas.
51 IRAN Country Report June 2022 www.intellinews.com