09 February 2011
Iran has inaugurated the second phase of Darkhovein oilfield in the south of the country, increasing the production capacity of the field from 50,000 bpd to 160,000 bpd as well as producing 280 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the oilfield's second phase on Tuesday, Mirkazemi underlined utilizing different financial resources to develop the oil industry projects, adding, "If we rely just on National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) resources, it would lead to nothing but delays and incomplete projects," Shana reported.
By implementation of the Darkhovein oilfield's third phase, production capacity of the field will rise to 260,000 bpd, Mirkazemi added.
On diversification of domestic financial resources, the minister noted that the diversification has helped to achieving desirable progress in oil industry development and finalizing contracts.
"While the upstream sector needs $150 billion investment over the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), some other sectors including oil refining and distribution, petrochemical and gas each needs $20 billion investment," added the minister.
Holding 5.2 billion barrels of in situ oil reserves the oilfield is located in Khuzestan province south of Iran. Darkhovein was developed by Italy's oil and gas group Eni for Iran's Arvandan Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the NIOC.
Eni signed a $550 million deal with Iran's state oil company in 2001 to develop the field. It brought the first phase on line in 2005 and then started its work in the second phase.
Iran, which sits on the world's second largest reserves of both oil and gas, is facing US sanctions over its civilian nuclear program.
Iranian officials have dismissed US sanctions as inefficient, saying that they are finding Asian partners instead. Several Chinese and other Asian firms are negotiating or signing up to oil and gas deals.
Following US pressures on companies to stop business with Tehran, many western companies decided to do a balancing act. They tried to maintain their presence in Iran, which is rich in oil and gas, but not getting into big deals that could endanger their interests in the US.
Yet, after oil giants in the West witnessed that their absence in big deals has provided Chinese, Indian and Russian companies with excellent opportunities to sign up to an increasing number of energy projects and earn billions of dollars, many western firms are increasingly showing interest to invest or expand work in Iran.
Some European countries have also recently voiced interest in investment in Iran's energy sector after a gas deal was signed between Iran and Switzerland regardless of US sanctions.
The National Iranian Gas Export Company and Switzerland's Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft Laufenburg signed a 25-year deal in March 2010 for the delivery of 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The biggest recent deal, worth €100 million, was signed by Steiner Prematechnik Gastec, the German engineering company, last year to build equipment for three gas conversion plants in Iran.
Iran has inaugurated the second phase of Darkhovein oilfield in the south of the country, increasing the production capacity of the field from 50,000 bpd to 160,000 bpd as well as producing 280 million cubic feet of natural gas.
Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the oilfield's second phase on Tuesday, Mirkazemi underlined utilizing different financial resources to develop the oil industry projects, adding, "If we rely just on National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) resources, it would lead to nothing but delays and incomplete projects," Shana reported.
By implementation of the Darkhovein oilfield's third phase, production capacity of the field will rise to 260,000 bpd, Mirkazemi added.
On diversification of domestic financial resources, the minister noted that the diversification has helped to achieving desirable progress in oil industry development and finalizing contracts.
"While the upstream sector needs $150 billion investment over the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015), some other sectors including oil refining and distribution, petrochemical and gas each needs $20 billion investment," added the minister.
Holding 5.2 billion barrels of in situ oil reserves the oilfield is located in Khuzestan province south of Iran. Darkhovein was developed by Italy's oil and gas group Eni for Iran's Arvandan Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the NIOC.
Eni signed a $550 million deal with Iran's state oil company in 2001 to develop the field. It brought the first phase on line in 2005 and then started its work in the second phase.
Iran, which sits on the world's second largest reserves of both oil and gas, is facing US sanctions over its civilian nuclear program.
Iranian officials have dismissed US sanctions as inefficient, saying that they are finding Asian partners instead. Several Chinese and other Asian firms are negotiating or signing up to oil and gas deals.
Following US pressures on companies to stop business with Tehran, many western companies decided to do a balancing act. They tried to maintain their presence in Iran, which is rich in oil and gas, but not getting into big deals that could endanger their interests in the US.
Yet, after oil giants in the West witnessed that their absence in big deals has provided Chinese, Indian and Russian companies with excellent opportunities to sign up to an increasing number of energy projects and earn billions of dollars, many western firms are increasingly showing interest to invest or expand work in Iran.
Some European countries have also recently voiced interest in investment in Iran's energy sector after a gas deal was signed between Iran and Switzerland regardless of US sanctions.
The National Iranian Gas Export Company and Switzerland's Elektrizitaetsgesellschaft Laufenburg signed a 25-year deal in March 2010 for the delivery of 5.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The biggest recent deal, worth €100 million, was signed by Steiner Prematechnik Gastec, the German engineering company, last year to build equipment for three gas conversion plants in Iran.
© Iran Daily 2011
