Pars Special Energy Economic Zone Organization quoted the NICOC Managing Director Alireza Zeighami as saying that the National Iranian Gas Co. (NIGC) was responsible for construction of Ilam Refinery for the project and Minister of Petroleum Seyed Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh had announced that the refinery would be inaugurated by Sept. 2007.

The first phase of project would produce seven million cubic meters of gas daily, said Zeighami, adding the figure would soar to 20 million cubic meters when the second phase came on stream.

According to him, it will take almost two years to put the second phase into operation.

Zeighami said the company would earn 23 billion dollars if a barrel of its oil were sold at 50 dollars and every 1,000 cubic meters of gas at 150 dollars.

The official vowed the NICOC would produce 330 million cubic meters of gas, 320 thousand barrels of crude oil, and 110 thousand barrels of gas condensates by the end of the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan, 2010.

He added the NICOC would produce 300 million cubic meters of gas, 200 thousand barrels of crude oil, and 100 thousand barrels of gas condensates by March 20, 2008.

According to its articles of association, the company was active in 14 provinces, said Zeighami, adding the NICOC’s oil and gas operations bore fruit in 10 provinces.

The company is duty-bound to exploit 60 fields, said the managing director and added NICOC was currently exploiting 26 fields and the figure would soar to 32 by the end of Fourth Plan and to 83 fields by the end of 20-year Outlook Plan.

Shifting to the development plan of Khesht oilfield, he predicted it would become operational by early 2009 and would yield 30 thousand barrels of oil per day.

Zeighami said 18 contracts were signed on the development of southern oilfield.

He added engineering operations, seismographic and three-dimensional (3-D) measurements, supervision on seismographic operations, geophysical processing, civil operations, and drilling were some parts of measures included at the 18 contracts, which were valued at over 467 billion rials (50.5 million dollars) and some 66 million dollars and would last 26 months.

The executive operations of Khesht oilfield development plan recently kicked off in the presence of ranking officials in an area between Kazeroun and Borazjan, central of Farsprovince.  

Khesht’s in place oil is 1.53 billion barrels, of which 270 million is derivable.