Iran Plans to Boost Output at Joint Oil Fields

An Iranian lawmaker said the oil ministry has terminated the whole contracts to develop the country’s domestic oil fields as part of a major plan giving priority to investment in joint fields.

Seyed Saeed Heidari, member of the Iranian parliament’s energy commission, told the Tasnim News Agency that Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh has issued an order to stop development of the country’s domestic oil fields except for those which have already reached the production phase.

The lawmaker also quoted Zanganeh as saying in a parliamentary meeting that his ministry will pay compensation for the rescinded contracts.

Heidari insisted that the Oil Ministry should zero in on the oil fields that Iran shares with the neighbors.

“The neighboring countries are extracting more than Iran in many shared oil and gas fields,” he explained. “We are markedly lagging behind.”

Back in May, the oil minister said Iran plans to start the process of increasing oil production from fields shared with neighbors by one million barrels per day (bpd) within the coming month, noting that the process will be completed by 4 years.

“Massive efforts to raise oil production by one million barrels a day will begin within the next few months,” he said at the time.

“Such production capacity will be reached in the coming four years,” he explained, adding that if this goal is achieved, it would be the biggest ever bargaining chip of the oil ministry since the increase in oil production will take place in joint fields.

With 137.6 billion barrels of proven reserves, Iran has the world's fourth largest crude deposits. In terms of gas reserves, it is second only to Russia, with reserves estimated at 29.61 trillion cubic meters (tcm).