In terms of geography, NIDC is among the largest service companies of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). It provides services to more than 10 provinces, ranging from drilling exploration wells in the area run by Khazar Oil Exploration and Production Company (KEPCO) in the north to drilling wells in gas fields run by the Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) in central and western Iran, drilling services in oil and gas fields run by National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) in southern, western and southwestern Iran; to offshore drilling in the oil fields located in the Persian Gulf under administration of Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC).

Abdollah Mousavi, CEO of NIDC, speaking about the activities of NIDC, said: “Over 41 years, the company has drilled and completed 4,722 oil and gas wells in offshore and onshore oil-rich areas. They include 4,310 onshore and 412 offshore fields in the Persian Gulf. NIDC has drilled 2,437 development wells, 115 appraisal wells, 142 exploration wells and 2,028 workover fields over 41 years, mostly in the areas run by NISOC.”

9mn Meters of Well

A review of NIDC fleet indicates that the company owns more than 70 light, heavy and superheavy onshore and offshore drilling rigs. Furthermore, more than 9.5 million meters of wells have been drilled over this period of time, including 664,853 meters offshore.

There have been 146,729 cases of drilling services, cement job and well stimulation aimed at drilling, workover and completion.

Meanwhile, 876,624 meters of horizontal and directional drilling on 1,874 meters of well, 37,088 meters of coring and 9,949 logging operations, 7,362 logging operations on drilling fluid and 123 well logging operations are among other achievements of NIDC during the 41-year period.

NIDC Technical Operations Done

According to NIDC, 7,420 extended and special acidizing operations, 47,871 cementing operations, 44,709 injection operations, 7,604 cases of coiled tubing, 13,239 drill stem tests, 309 cases of full and special air drilling for 378,586 meters, 315 full and special drilling operations for 24,737 meters of underbalanced drilling, 19,157 cases of pipe-laying in wells, 4,581 cases of hanger installations and 1,524 cases of productivity index (PI) tests have been carried out.

In addition to providing technical and specialized logistics services to oil production companies over the past days, NIDC has been handling implementation of EPD projects in offshore and onshore oil-rich areas including shared oil fields in West Karoun in the provinces of Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Bushehr and Hormuzgan. Carrying out drilling projects in North Azadegan, South Azadegan, Yadavaran, South Yaran and Azar oil fields; as well as eight phases of the giant South Pars gas field development are among these projects, leading to the drilling of 120 onshore wells and 100 offshore wells.

Partnership in Field Development

In line with NIDC development plans, including development of 28 reservoirs using domestic companies and contractors’ potential, NIDC has been engaged in field-based projects. It is currently involved in the development of Gachsaran and Naftshahr fields directly, while partnering the private sector in the development of the Lali, Balaroud, Ramin, Sepehr and Jofair fields.

NIDC has been instrumental in drilling exploration wells in various areas and discovering the Azadegan oil field and the South Pars gas field. Furthermore, two drilling projects in recent years have led to the discovery of the Eram gas field in Fars Province and the Namavaran oil field in NISOC-run area.

Cooperation with 30 Education Centers

A significant and effective measure undertaken by NIDC in recent years has been cooperation with more than 30 education, scientific and research centers across the country, as well as cooperation with manufacturers, industrialists and knowledge-based companies in building equipment. The outcome of such cooperation has been designing and manufacturing thousands of items and equipment used in the drilling industry, as well as implementing numerous research projects in this field. Meantime, for research purposes and also in order to increase opportunities for benefiting from domestic potential, more than 500 domestic manufacturers have so far been identified and their technical capacity has been used in NIDC construction projects.

Over the past decade, more than 20,000 items widely used in the drilling industry have been manufactured domestically. More equipment is being designed by Iranian manufacturers and academic centers for future manufacturing.

Online Courses

Education is another key issue at NIDC. To that effect, the company’s Department of Education and Human Resources Equipment conducted 6,008 persons-hours of online education for employees due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The courses are decided following expert and need analysis studies by various directorates.

Holding on-the-job training courses for oil workers is done by teachers and experts on the ground. Over the past one year, more than 880 drilling workers have passed these courses.

Environment

Obtaining certificates and installing quality, environment and occupational health management systems, safety management, obtaining COF certificate, structure upgrading, regulating costs, supporting domestic manufacturers, carrying out social responsibilities, job creation, and supplying petroleum industry needs are among NIDC’s plans for the current calendar year. The envisaged plans will be pursued in the light of experience and potential of NIDC experts and staff with more serious efforts.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum