OMV Confirms Commerciality Of Mehr Block Discovery
Austria’s OMV confirmed on 1 February the commerciality of an oil discovery made on Iran’s Mehr license in 2004. OMV Exploration and Production Director Helmut Lananger told a Vienna conference announcing 17 Iranian exploration and development (E&D) blocks (see page 4) that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) had declared the discovery commercial, estimating recoverable reserves at 150mn barrels of oil, with production expected at 40,000 b/d. “We are negotiating with Iranian officials to develop the field and to establish a detailed development plan. We expect to reach an agreement in this respect by the end of the year,” a company spokesman said. The discovery was made with the Band-e-Karkeh-2 well, which flowed 1,040 b/d of 22° API oil on test (MEES, 24 January 2005). OMV is operator of the Mehr license with 34% equity, with partners Repsol and Chile’s ENAP each holding 33%.
Sinopec Applies To Extend Zavareh-Kashan Exploration License
Zavareh-Kashan exploration block operator Sinopec has applied to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to extend the license area and duration. The company made a non-commercial light oil discovery, designated Aran-Bigdol, with the first of four wells drilled on the block (MEES, 28 August 2006). Sinopec’s Iran Branch General Manager Fan Shengli told the Vienna conference on Iranian E&D blocks: “We have applied to extend the block boundary northwards, so that we can acquire more seismic data and look for more favorable prospects. We have also requested a 2½ years license extension beyond the end of the contract.” He said that the encouraging results on Zavareh-Kashan were behind Sinopec’s decision to take on another block in the Central Iranian Basin, the Garmsar E&D license for which negotiations are nearing completion (MEES, 5 June 2006).
