The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has reportedly initiated development work at the recently discovered Pazan oil and gas field.
NIOC Exploration director Mohieddin Jafari said that a private investor has been contracted to drill several wells under a 40‑month development programme, reported the Islamic Republic News Agency via the Tehran Times.
Jafari said: “The Pazan discovery is one of the country’s most significant new oil and gas finds, achieved after years of geological surveys and seismic studies.”
The plan includes drilling several wells across the field and tying these wells into gas separation and sweetening hubs for delivery to the national grid.
Preliminary work in the area commenced in 2015 with a 4,000m well that identified a single gas horizon.
2D and 3D seismic surveys were subsequently carried out, prompting a second drilling phase.
The campaign revealed two further hydrocarbon layers, an oil-bearing interval and another gas zone, and showed the original gas horizon to be larger than expected.
The capacity of the field is roughly ten trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, equivalent to around one billion cubic feet per day (approximately 28.5 million cubic metres).
This volume is likely to fulfil the everyday gas requirements of the Ilam, Bushehr, North Khorasan and Masjed Soleyman regions.
Jafari said: “Its importance lies in its ability to reduce winter gas shortages.”
Preliminary assessments indicate a minimum of 200 million barrels of oil in the field, Jafari said, adding that definitive figures await the outcome of a third well.
He added: “This will give us a clearer picture of the Pazan field’s long-term production capacity.”
NIOC is also carrying out 2D and 3D seismic surveys in multiple regions including Kermanshah, Ilam, Khuzestan, Bushehr and Ardabil.
Plans are also advancing to hire survey contractors for South Khorasan, North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Golestan and Gorgan by the end of this year.
Jafari said: “Our simultaneous operations across Iran’s vast onshore regions aim to deliver new discoveries to the Iranian people and strengthen the country’s energy balance.”
