Owji reports 40% rise in Iran oil production capacity
Iran’s oil production capacity has jumped 40 percent since two years ago, said Oil Minister Javad Owji on Saturday.
He made the announcement following a recent meeting between the president and his cabinet ministers with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who insisted on making more investments with the aim of producing more oil, Shana reported.
The 40 percent hike in oil production capacity is the outcome of investments made in incomplete projects over the past two years, explained the minister.
The increase in investments has been a key issue in oil projects since the 13th (incumbent) administration took office, said Owji, adding the Oil Ministry has prioritized its projects and has given top priority to new projects that lead to economic growth. “The country’s crude oil production stood at 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) when I took over as oil minister, but the figure has now reached 3.1 million bpd to 3.4 million bpd,” he said.
Gas projects
The incomplete gas projects such as phases 14 and 11 of the South Pars (SP) field were also prioritized, said the minister.
For 20 years, the Phase 11 development project had been passed from one administration to another, and the last move was a $4.8-billion contract signed with the French company Total, without a good performance bond, regretted Owji, continuing that the company received the data about the South Pars field, without completing the project, and quit.
Last Monday, President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi inaugurated SP Phase 11 in southern Iran.
Phase 11 is the farthest border section of South Pars gas field Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf waters. The country’s gas production has witnessed a 40-million-cubic-meter growth in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (starting March 21) thanks to investments, in comparison with the volume in the corresponding period last year, said the top official.
Shifting to the gas processing capacity, Owji added the launch of SP Phase 14 has added over 50 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) to it.
Pointing to 7-10 mcm/d gas output at SP Phase 11, the oil minister said the figure will soar to 15 mcm/d before next winter and will hit 50 mcm/d when more wells are drilled and put into operation. The gas project was implemented while Iran has been hit by the toughest ever sanctions and Qatar, facing no restrictions, is producing gas on the other side of the South Pars field, said Owji.