Iran to tap four oilfields by March 2013

TEHRAN,Sept.26(MNA) - Four Iranian oilfields, namely Cheshmeh Khosh, Sarvestan, Khesht, and Saa’databad, located in central parts of the country, are in the final stages of development and will start production by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013), the managing director of the National Iranian Central Oil Company said. “Cheshmeh Khosh field’s output will be doubled to 180,000 barrels per day. Sarvestan and Saa’databad fields will also start 15,000 barrels per day production by September,” the Shana News Agency quoted Mehdi Fakour as saying on Tuesday. To date, 10 wells have been drilled at the oilfields and two other will soon become ready for being injected with natural gas, he noted. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will inaugurate early production at three oilfields, three desalination plans, establishing pipelines and power stations by the end of the current calendar year (March 20, 2013). Starting 20,000 barrels per day production at Yadavaran oilfield and 10,000 bpd at each of Sarvestan and Saadatabad oilfields are among the projects. The NIOC’s managing director Ahmad Qalebani has said that the country’s daily oil and gas outputs should amount to five million barrels and 1.47 billion cubic meters by 2015. Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in August 2011 that the Iranian government should consider plans for the development of joint oilfields. The government should increase the budgets for the development of joint oilfields, Qasemi added. "The oil industry's infrastructure needs more than 500 trillion rials (about $41 billion) of investment to achieve objectives of the 20-Year Outlook Plan," Qasemi was quoted as saying."