Nasrollah Zarei said the plan calls for drilling and completing nine new wells to reach that output level. Starting in the Iranian year 1406 (which begins in March 2027), the field will enter a production-maintenance phase under its development and production plan (DPOP), he said.

Zarei said domestic engineering expertise is available for the field's development. Most surface equipment, including pumps, mixers and manifolds, is sourced domestically, he said, but some specialized downhole equipment — such as frac sleeves, open-hole packers and high-pressure completion strings — is not yet fully manufactured in Iran or remains in early stages of localization.

On the reservoirs' remaining lifespan, Zarei said the Sepehr-Jofeir development contract runs 20 years and covers the Ilam and Fahliyan reservoirs. Given the Fahliyan reservoir's oil volume and lighter crude, a significant share of it is expected to be depleted during that period, he said. But Zarei said the Ilam reservoir, developed through horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing and downhole pumps, will have a considerably longer productive life than Fahliyan because of its larger oil volume and slower depletion rate.

Zarei also addressed the field's operations during the 12-day war, saying development work continued without interruption. Five wells in the Fahliyan reservoir and one in the Ilam reservoir were brought into production during that period, he said. Of the Fahliyan wells, three came online in an initial phase using temporary wellhead facilities; one was later connected to permanent installations, while two others — with combined capacity of about 11,000 barrels per day — continued operating on temporary facilities, according to Zarei.

He said the field's main operational challenges during the war included protecting worker safety, sustaining output amid security threats, safeguarding facilities, and coping with equipment shortages and supply-chain disruptions. Those challenges were managed through crisis-response planning, greater reliance on domestic equipment suppliers, strategic parts stockpiles and continuous coordination between operations and health, safety and environment (HSE) units, allowing production and new-well drilling to continue with minimal disruption, he said.

Zarei said production at Sepehr-Jofeir has risen from about 57,000 to more than 77,000 barrels per day, crediting the increase to new well drilling and completions, well-intervention work, optimized production management through pressure control and choke selection, integrated reservoir management, and continuous monitoring to offset natural decline.