Speaking on Thursday, November 26, at the official virtual ceremony to inaugurate the first skid-mounted oil processing unit in the West Karoun oil fields cluster in the presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Touraj Dehghani said in the west Karoun region, there are about 70 billion barrels of oil reserves in place, most of which trapped in joint reserves, and any attempt to speed up extraction from these resources is regarded as a step forward.

"Using the experiences of previous years, we can accelerate the development of fields, especially joint fields, with innovative methods," he said.

According to him, one of such methods is construction of skid-mounted processing units with 50,000 b/s of processing capacity.

The unit which has come online in Azadegan oilfield can operate with 80,000 b/d of processing capacity in two refining trains.

The PEDED CEO said the unit was developed by the private sector in a period of less than a year.

He further said that given its exceptional features, the unit paved the way for formation of a new strategy in Iran’s oil industry

This processing unit (Skid-Mounted) was constructed in the form of a lease and purchase contract for oil refining services ($1,285 per barrel) with the private sector (foreign).

The value of the contract is $47 million, and the construction site is on the south side of South Azadegan oil field in the West Karoun oil fields cluster. It is fed by 35 wells and its processing capacity is 50,000 barrels per day, which can be enhanced to 80,000 barrels.

Another noteworthy point on this unit is the working method in which oil is processed using super heat water vapor in order to change and exchange temperature. Also, construction of this unit created jobs for 400 people at the time of construction and 100 people during operation.

Attracting foreign capital at the climax of sanctions, rapid construction (in less than a year) and helping to increase production capacity in a joint field (South Azadegan), are the most prominent features of the skid-mounted refining unit built in the West Karoun region.

Last February, a contract was signed between the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC) and Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) for construction of the second skid-mounted processing unit in the South Azadegan oil field under Build-Own-Operate contact terms.

The facility will operate with 50,000 barrels per day of capacity and 15 months has been designated for its design and construction. The operation period of this project will be three years which could be extended to five years.