Speaking in a televised interview regarding the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding for the integrated development of the joint Azadegan oil field between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), banks and exploration and production companies on Tuesday evening, Mr. Owji said Azadegan is a joint oil field between Iran and Iraq; the models for the development of the joint field have been designed with the planning and studies carried out by the NIOC in recent months, but financing was one of the important concerns about the project, which today using the capacity of banks and holdings, this issue was also sorted out.

Appreciating the president and the first vice president for supporting this project, he added: “With an investment of nearly 7 billion dollars, the production capacity of this field will increase to 220,000 barrels in the second year of its development and in the next seven years, to 570,000 barrels of oil per day [from currency 190,000 b/d].”

The Minister of Petroleum stated: “During the 20-year operation period of Azadegan field, if we consider the base price of oil per barrel to be 80 dollars, it will generate more than $115 billion in revenue and income for the country and create employment for 24,000 people. Also, operational measures for the enhanced production of this field will also be on the agenda soon.”

According to the NIOC, the project will entail drilling of more than 420 production and injection wells, construction of 5 manifolds and installation of 315 to 320,000 kilometers of pipelines which will all be carried out by domestic developers and contractors.