Speaking to Shana on the sidelines of a meeting with a number of the members of the parliament’s energy committee, Ramin Hatami said more than 12 billion barrels of oil in-place is in the province’s joint oil fields of which 1.1 billion barrels have been extracted from the province's oil reserves, and more than 75% of its recoverable oil reserves still remain.

He pointed to the joint fields of Azar, Changoleh, Aban, Paydar Gharb and Dehloran, which are located in Ilam province, and added: "The Azar field development plan is about to be put into operation.”

Hatami stated that contract negotiations for the development of Changoleh field have been finalized, adding: "The development of Aban and Paydar Gharb fields in the form of a new model of oil contracts is being implemented by the consortium of the contracting party."

He further said that a gas compressor was under construction which would gas associated petroleum gas in Dehloran and Danan fields and provide feedstock for the NGL 3100 project which has so far made 50% progress.