Nearly 16 years have now passed since an agreement was signed for the development of the Doroud field. Enhanced recovery from the field has not been achieved despite gas injection since 2008.

According to the Department for Economic and Financial Feasibility Studies of National Iranian Oil Company’s Directorate of Corporate Planning, the investment needed in the Doroud field over four years has been calculated, which would be secured through signing F, EPCF and EPDF deals. The project costs will be recouped over a six-year period from the increase in the crude oil production capacity.

The package of investment for the integrated development of IOOC oil and gas fields has been drawn up in line with Iran’s law on removal of barriers to competitive production and upgrading the fiscal system. It will take effect after the acquisition of necessary permits from NIOC Board of Directors and the Economic Council and signing agreements with investors. This investment package takes into consideration compliance with Iran’s Fifth Five-year Economic Development Plan for the prioritization of development projects including Development of jointly owned oil and gas fields.

Doroud oil field development project is along IOOC-run projects open to investment. IOOC is a leading company in applying ESP to wells and gas lifting in the country. It intends to focus on improving the rate of recovery from hydrocarbon fields nominated for investment.

Over the past four decades, Doroud has been developed twice. It is now ready to undergo the third phase of development.

Doroud is estimated to contain 7.6 billion barrels of oil in place. Due to 33-year recovery from this field and improper injection of water and gas, only 1.5 billion barrels of oil was recoverable from the field. But now due to development activities in this field, the recoverable amount is expected to rise to 2.5 billion barrels.

Currently, Doroud is producing on average 15,431 b/d of oil from its offshore wells and 36,500 b/d from its onshore wells. In 1997, 42 wells were drilled in the oil field. Eighteen offshore wells and 23 onshore wells have been drilled and completed.

The crude oil processing installations are used for treating 100,000 b/d offshore and 110,000 b/d onshore.

About 1.6 billion barrels of oil has been recovered from this field over the past four decades. Oil production from Doroud came to a halt during the 1980-1988 imposed war.

The first wave of enhanced recovery from the Doroud field started in 2002 at the rate of 15,000 to 16,000 b/d. In the following years, production increased as new wells were drilled in this oil field.

When Iran signed an agreement with France’s energy giant Total in 1999 for the development of Doroud, oil was $20 per barrel. Total acquired Elf and Agip to make good investment in Iran. The French company failed to inject gas into Doroud on schedule and the project was halted mid-way. But it must be taken into consideration that over recent years as average oil prices have been at $40 a barrel, the project has been profitable for Iran with a quick rate of return on investment.

Before the gas injection section of the Doroud oil field was launched in Kharg Island, many Iranian petroleum industry experts recommended that due to the unprecedented high pressure gas injection (6,000 psi) into the field and its unknown consequences, the gas injection section be transferred from Total to the client after completion of the water injection and oil production process. In the meantime, the geologically complicated structure of the Doroud field and the location of this oil field in Kharg Island slowed down the pace of drilling in the first years of development of this field as simultaneous onshore and offshore work was tough.

Arvand Awaiting Investment

Until a couple of years ago, development of the oil and gas fields  that Iran shares with neighboring countries had been slowed due to financial and technical impediments in Iran, thereby helping neighboring nations make big gains.

Iran has shifted its focus on the development of joint oil and gas fields located mainly in South Pars and West Karoun. In the West Karoun area, Iran shares oil fields with Iraq. Three West Karoun oil fields recently started production.

The fields shared with Iraq have been proposed to foreign investors for future cooperation. Foreign companies can sign agreement with Iran based on the content of newly developed model of contract – Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC).

Arvand oil field which is located 50 kilometers south of Abadan in Khuzestan Province is one of these fields in question. The field lies at the entry of Arvandroud River and is 42 kilometers long and 13 kilometers wide.

Arvand is estimated to contain one billion barrels of oil in place with a recovery rate of 15%. Arvand also holds over 14 bcm of dry gas and 55 million barrels of gas condensate.

Discovered in 2008, the Arvand field lies along Iran-Iraq border. Drilling had started in Arvand in 2006 for the purpose of estimating the hydrocarbon potential of the formations in the Khami and Bangestan centers.

Four well logging operations were carried out in the Fahlyan formation to prove the existence of oil and gas in that formation. The Fahlyan formation holds light crude oil with API gravity at about 44.

The Arvand oil field is administered by the Arvandan Oil and Gas Production Company (AOGPC) whose production is estimated to reach 1.4 mb/d by 2025.

AOGPC is estimated to have the highest oil and gas production rate in the coming decade. A major facility inside this field is a 165,000-barrel-per-day processing unit. This treatment unit was built by National Iranian Oil Company during years when Iran was under sanctions. A variety of crude oil may be processed at this facility. Thanks to the existence of this treatment facility, the return of investment will be fast. Any investment in the development of the Arvand oil field will have a good rate of return. The short distance between the Arvand field and the treatment facility is an indicator of the fast development of the oil field.

Several years ago, an agreement was signed between AOGPC and the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) for the development of the Arvand oil field, but the agreement was never implemented due to financial and other problems.

The Arvand oil field is expected to produce 5,000 b/d of oil in the first phase, which would reach 20,000 b/d in the final phase. The investment needed for the development of this field stands at $135 million, which is likely to increase. The API gravity of oil contained in Arvand varies between 39 and 43. The Arvand oil is planned to be delivered to the Abadan refinery.

Iran and Iraq share eight oil fields along their joint border with combined recoverable reserves of 14 billion barrels. The eight fields are Dehloran, Naftshahr, West Paydar, Azar, Azadegan, Yadavaran, Dehloran and Arvand. These fields have different names on the Iraqi side. Nine percent of Iran’s crude oil reserves exist in the fields shared with Iraq.

As recovery from jointly owned fields leads to migration of hydrocarbon, NIOC officials are concentrating on the development of such fields.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum