Iran's Oil Minister Signs Document With Academic Centers To Revitalize Oilfields

Tehran, May 29, IRNA – Oil Minister Rostam Ghassemi said on Monday that one percent optimized exploitation of the oil fields will yield an extra six billion barrels of oil which amounts to the annual budgets of six years. Ghassemi made the remarks in a ceremony of signing contract with Iranian academic sector to optimize national oil industry -- exploration and development of Iranian oil and gas fields. “The Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan envisaged one percent growth for output of the oil fields. Currently the rate of optimization of the oil wells in Iran is 25 percent which is lagging behind the international standard which is 37 percent.” “If we want to narrow the gap of optimization one percent, of course it needs time. But, taking advantage of the expertise from the academic centers will help us take great strides in this respect.” Presenting diagram of output from the oilfields in the past 100 years, he said that in some areas the oil output has dropped from the target of 23,000 barrels per day so that special steps must be taken to revitalize the oilfields to reach the target. He said that Ferdowsi oilfield has 34 billion barrels of in-place oil reserves, but, only seven to eight percent of its oil reserves are being produced. It requires optimized standards and modernization in oil industry. He said that tens of oil wells are currently dead, calling for renovations to revitalize them. Ghassemi signed a document with Minister of Science, Research and Technology Kamran Daneshjoo on cooperation of the academic centers with the Oil Ministry to optimize the oilfields. As per the document, six academic centers – Sharif Industrial, Ami Kabir Industrial, Sahand Industrial of Tabriz, Shiraz, Tehran and Oil Industry university undertook to cooperate with the Oil Ministry to revitalize the oil fields./end