Iran discovers four oil, gas fields: Minister
With the discovery of three oilfields and one gas field, 2.6 billion barrels have been added to Iran’s oil and gas reserves, said Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a weekly cabinet meeting, the minister added that the fields include Cheshmeshour gas field in the northeast of the country, the Hirkan oilfield in Golestan Province, and the Tengou and Genaveh oilfields in Bushehr Province, according to Shana.
Iran’s proven oil reserves of at least 160 billion barrels account for almost 10 percent of the world total, and rank it fourth, after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada.
The country also sits on the world’s largest proven gas reserves of almost 34 trillion cubic meters, or 18 percent of the global total.
Owji said that the new discoveries have raised the replacement factor to 87% in the liquid hydrocarbon sector, which means that for 100 barrels of crude oil and gas condensate used for domestic consumption in the country, 87 barrels have been provided by new discoveries. Compared to countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar, Iran ranks first place in exploration, which means that every well dug for exploration is successful and has reached hydrocarbon, the minister noted.