Mahdiya Motahari said Monday at a conference on improving and increasing production in oil and gas fields that Iran had produced about 51% of its recoverable oil reserves by 1404 in the Iranian calendar, leaving roughly 49% still in place. Depletion rates, he added, are significantly higher in some areas—particularly in the southern oil-rich regions—due to differences in reservoir characteristics and scale, including large, high-capacity core reservoirs.

Motahari said regional producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, are rapidly deploying EOR technologies. The UAE is recognized as a Middle East pilot hub for EOR methods, Iraq has launched EOR pilot projects at the shared Azadegan field, and Saudi Arabia is widely using hydraulic fracturing in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs.

ME Hydraulic Fracturing Market at $2.1b

Motahari said the Middle East hydraulic fracturing services market was valued at about $2.1 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at an annual rate of 8.6% over the next decade. The growth reflects regional efforts to raise recovery factors and accelerate production of remaining oil, with Saudi Arabia leading the region in technology investment.

Motahari identified misdefining problems as the first major challenge to deploying EOR technologies, noting that issues are often viewed from a single perspective. EOR, he said, requires an integrated, reservoir-, well- and facilities-centered approach.

In reservoirs such as Bangestan formations, accelerating production without pressure support leads to rapid pressure decline, he said. Phased strategies and methods such as water injection for pressure maintenance can ensure higher, sustainable production without necessarily requiring high upfront capital spending.

Technology Penetration, the Tech Gap

Motahari cited “technology penetration” as the second major challenge, saying fragmented efforts in the past stemmed from a lack of shared knowledge among operating companies, technology firms and academic centers. Closing that gap requires boosting operational expertise within new technology-based firms and universities, while strengthening in-house technical capacity at NIOC—a role in which professional associations can be pivotal, he said.

He stressed the importance of embedding technology outcomes within organizations. If technical knowledge generated by projects is not institutionalized and turned into sustainable business, it will erode over time, he said. Universities, by nature educational institutions, cannot alone serve as repositories for design and operational knowledge but can act as companies’ research and development arms.

Professional associations, Motahari added, provide the best platform for exchanging specialized technical knowledge across the technology ecosystem.

22 Problem-Oriented Research Contracts Underway

Motahari said NIOC currently has 22 problem-oriented research contracts underway with 13 major universities and the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, each with defined deliverables and timelines. He noted that the country’s first water injection pilot at the Ahvaz field was inaugurated in Mehr and achieved stable injection after about 4½ months. Beyond boosting production, the project enables the use of sugarcane wastewater in Khuzestan province, delivering environmental benefits.

The 22 contracts span six main areas, including enhanced oil recovery, drilling, stimulation, well workover and completion, reservoir characterization, modeling and simulation, monitoring, digital transformation and corrosion, he said. In EOR, two pilots are underway at the Ahvaz and Azadegan fields, with plans to expand the technologies to four additional fields.

Motahari said he hopes effective collaboration with professional associations—particularly the Petroleum Engineering Association—will help NIOC achieve durable, impactful technological outcomes and create more opportunities at future meetings to hear concerns and proposals from technology ecosystem stakeholders.