Oil reserves in Iran
Encyclopedia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, according to its government, rank third largest in the world at approximately 150 Goilbbl as of 2007, although it ranks second if Canadian reserves
Oil reserves
The total estimated amount of oil in an oil reservoir, including both producible and non-producible oil, is called oil in place. However, because of reservoir characteristics and limitations in petroleum extraction technologies, only a fraction of this oil can be brought to the surface, and it is...
of unconventional oil are excluded. This is roughly 10% of the world's total proven petroleum reserves. Iran is the world's fourth largest oil producer and is OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. As of 2009 it was producing an estimated 4.172 Moilbbl/d of crude oil. At 2006 rates of production, Iran's oil reserves would last 98 years if no new oil was found.
Iranian production peaked at 6 Moilbbl/d in 1974, but it has been unable to produce at that rate since the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
due to a combination of political unrest, war with Iraq, limited investment, US sanctions, and a high rate of natural decline. Iran's mature oil fields are in need of enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced Oil Recovery is a generic term for techniques for increasing the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil field...
(EOR) techniques such as gas injection to maintain production, which is declining at an annual rate of approximately 8% onshore and 10% offshore. With current technology it is only possible to extract 20% to 25% of the oil in place
Oil In Place
Oil in place is the total hydrocarbon content of an oil reservoir and is often abbreviated STOOIP, which stands for Stock Tank Original Oil In Place, or STOIIP for Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place, referring to the oil in place before the commencement of production...
from Iran’s fractured carbonate reservoirs, 10% less than the world average. It is estimated that 400,000-700,000 bbl/d of crude production is lost annually due to declines in the mature oil fields.
Iran consumed 1.6 Moilbbl/d of its own oil as of 2006. Domestic consumption is increasing due to a growing population and large government subsidies on gasoline, which reduces the amount of oil available for export and contributes to a large government budget deficit. Due to a lack of refinery capacity, Iran is the second biggest gasoline importer in the world after the United States. High oil prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass nearly $60 billion in foreign exchange reserves
Foreign exchange reserves
Foreign-exchange reserves in a strict sense are 'only' the foreign currency deposits and bonds held by central banks and monetary authorities. However, the term in popular usage commonly includes foreign exchange and gold, Special Drawing Rights and International Monetary Fund reserve positions...
, but have not helped solve economic problems such as high unemployment and inflation.
According to NIOC, Iran recoverable liquid hydrocarbon reserves at the end of 2006 was 138,4 billion barrels.
Apart from these considerable reserves, from the outset of oil industry in Iran in 1908 to the end of 2007, Iran produced some 61 billion barrels of oil.
Iran oil reserves at the beginning of 2001 was reported to be about 99 billion barrels, however in 2002 the result of NIOC’s study showed huge reserves upgrade adding about 31,7 billion barrels of recoverable reserves to the Iranian oil reserves.
The 2002 NIOC reserve revision has came from following sources:
- Revision of oil-in-place volume which added 14,3 billion barrels of oil to Iran’s Oil in place reserves.
- Revision of the field’s recovery factors which increased average recovery factor of the revised oil fields from 29% to 36%.
- South Pars gas field Liquefied petroleum gas reserves (C3 and C4) about 3,2 billion recoverable barrels.
- New discoveries about 700 million recoverable barrels.
In addition to the large reserves, Iran still has huge potential for new significant gas discoveries: areas like Caspian Sea, North East, Central Kavir and especially areas starting from Aghar and Dalan gas fields in Fars province up to the Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....
and Central Persian Gulf have considerable amount of undiscovered gas resources. According to Exploration Directorate of NIOC, there are about 150 unexplored anticlines in Iran.
Since 1995, National Iranian Oil Company
National Iranian Oil Company
The National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
(NIOC) has made significant oil and gas discoveries, standing for some 84 Goilbbl of oil in place and at least 191 Tcuft of gas in place, which are listed below.
| Field's Name | Oil In Place | Recoverable Oil | Discovery Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billion Barrel | Billion Barrel | ||
| Azadegan Azadegan The Azadegan oil field is an oil field in Iran. The field is located west of Ahvaz close to the Iraqi border.-History:The oil field was discovered in 1999. The first exploration well was drilled in the field in 1976, but its discovery was finalized after drilling the second well in 1999... |
33.2 | 5.2 | |
| Yadavaran (Kushk+Hosseinieh) | 17 | 3 | |
| Ramin | 7.398 | 1.11 | 2007 |
| South Pars Oil Layer | 6 | NA | |
| Band-E-Karkeh | 4.5 | NA | 2007 |
| Mansour Abad | 4.45 | NA | 2007 |
| Changoleh | 2.7 | NA | |
| Azar | 2.07 | NA | 2007 |
| Paranj | 1.6 | NA | 2007 |
| Andimeshk (Balaroud) | 1.1 | 0.233 | 2007 |
| Binalood | 0.776 | 0.099 | 2008 |
| Mansouri-Khami layer | 0.760 | NA | |
| Jofeyr-Fahliyan layer | 0.750 | NA | 2008 |
| Asaluyeh | 0.525 | NA | 2008 |
| Arvand | 0.500 | NA | 2008 |
| Sumar | 0.475 | 0.070 | 2010 |
| Tusan | 0.470 | NA | 2006 |
| Arash | 0.168 | NA | |
| Total | 84.442 | NA | |
See also
- Iran Natural Gas Reserves
- South Pars
- North ParsNorth ParsNorth Pars Gas Field is one of the biggest independent gas fields of the world. This field which was discovered in 1967 is located some 120 kilometers south east of Bushehr province in water depths of 2 to 30 meters in the Persian Gulf....
- Kish Gas FieldKish Gas FieldKish gas Fied is a giant gas field close to Kish Island in the Persian Gulf.It is one of the NIOC Recent Discoveries which was discovered in 2006 and holds of gas in place of which is recoverable....
- Golshan Gas FieldGolshan Gas FieldThe Golshan gas field is one of the NIOC Recent Discoveries which is located at approximately 180 km south east of Bushehr, 65 km offshore the Persian Gulf...
- Ferdowsi Gas FieldFerdowsi Gas FieldFerdowsi Gas Field is one of the NIOC Recent Discoveries which is located at approximately 190 kilometers southeast of Bushehr, 85 kilometers offshore the Persian Gulf....
- Persian LNGPersian LNGPersian LNG is the LNG project in Iran. It has been defined based on the huge reserves of the South Pars gas field. Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol had been originally awarded phases 13 and 14 but were left out of the project by Iran due to their repeated delays.-Technical description:Persian LNG...
- National Iranian Oil CompanyNational Iranian Oil CompanyThe National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
- List of oil fields
- Energy in IranEnergy in IranEnergy resources in Iran consist of the third largest oil reserves and the second largest natural gas reserves in the world. Iran is in a constant battle to use its energy resources more effectively in the face of subsidization and the need for technological advances in energy exploration and...