Number of exploration drilling rigs increases fivefold
Nine oil and gas fields were discovered in the tenure of the 13th government, announced Mehdi Fakour, director of exploration at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), adding that the number of exploration drilling rigs of his company has increased to 10 from two rigs in August 2021.
Fakour added that “In the last 2.5 years, we have witnessed growths of 400, 300, 189 and 127 percent, respectively in the field of 2D seismography, 3D seismography, magnetometry, and 3D seismic processing compared to related figures for the preceding four years”.
“Currently, the exploration success rate in the world stands at 10 percent, while this figure is 100 percent in Iran, as in Iraq, it hits 50 percent, in Oman 30 percent, in the United Arab Emirates 15 percent, and in Qatar five percent,” he stated.
Fakour went on to say that in the past, exploration operations across the country were limited to a few numbers of provinces, noting that today, due to the efforts of the staff of his company, exploration drillings are being carried out in 19 provinces of Iran, equivalent to 60 percent of the country’s area, which has created employment for more than 5,000 people.
Iran is currently implementing eight exploration projects; he said adding that a sum of 28 new exploration sites is on agenda for his company for drilling operations.