Under a crash plan for gas production through development projects, early production from the Dey field is to start by December while Aghar would see its output grow. As part of long-term development plans, Phase 2 development of the Aghar field would begin while the Dey field would see its output grow to 15 mcm/d.

Kamal Bolandparvaz Jahromi, the head of the Aghar and Dalan operational zone, has said that four fields – Aghar, Dalan, Dey, and Sefid Zakhour – lie in this area.

“The Aghar gas field is located near the city of Qir in Fars Province. The gas from this field is collected from four centers into a separation center and then gas and condensate are piped to the Farashband gas refinery for processing. The Dalan gas field lies southeast of the city of Farashband. The field has wellhead installations, pipelines, three gas gathering centers and a gas refinery. Depending on demand, the gas from this refinery is either delivered to National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) to be fed into oil fields or sent to National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC)’s national trunkline. It is also possible to deliver gas condensate by pipeline to the Fajr Jam or Shiraz refinery,” he said.

“The Aghar and Dalan fields were discovered in 1972 field in 1975, respectively. Production from both began in 1998. Only one-fourth of the Aghar field’s reserves has been recovered and ICOFC’s long-term plans include second phase development of the Aghar field,” he added.

Jahromi said the gas recovered from the Aghar field would be sent to the Farashband refinery, adding: “The rated capacity of the refinery is 42-45 mcm/d, pertaining to sour and sweet gas. The treated gas would be partly injected into NISOC fields and partly be sent to the Bidboland gas refinery.”

Aghar output to rise

ICOFC has long envisaged developing the Dey and Sefid Zakhour fields. Therefore, ICOFC decided to raise production from the Dey and Aghar fields as part of its crash plan. With regard to enhanced output from the Aghar field, three wells would start production by December, which would add 4 mb/d to SZOGPC’s output capacity. Current gas production in the Aghar field stands at 24 mcm/d, which will rise to 28 mcm/d by next December.

Early production from Dey

Early production from the Dey gas field was also considered by SZOGPC. Four wells will start production to raise output from 3.5 mcm/d to 4 mcm/d, in which case, Dey would join the group of active fields of SZOGPC. The gas produced by this field is sweet, which would be fed into the national trunkline after necessary processes. Overall, it is noteworthy that SZOGPC would see its output grow at least 7 mcm/d following increased recovery from Aghar and early production from Dey. The bulk of drilling work at Dey is already done, while the manifold has been set up. Jahromi said that development of the Dey field would not stop here as the field is planned to reach 15 mcm/d production in the long term.

Overhaul

Thanks to efforts made by SZOGPC to enhance gas production, the required overhaul was implemented in the Aghar and Dalan operational zone. Necessary arrangements have been made for SZOGPC to handle gas production from three wells in Aghar and 4 wells in Dey. Therefore, through precise and cohesive planning at the highest level of readiness, the overhaul of refinery equipment and pipelines was carried out in a bid to ensure gas supply sustainability during winter. The overhaul operation was conducted in full compliance with safety regulations.

Aghar would see its output rise from 24 mcm/d to 28 mcm/d, while Dey would start production. Furthermore, the Dalan field would be producing 21 mcm/d. The Aghar and Dalan zone would experience at least 52 mcm/d output.

Development plans

Gas production started from the Aghar field in 1998; however, only 26.2% of its gas has been recovered. Development of this field in two phases would enhance its production capacity by about 35 mcm/d. The second phase of the Farashband refinery would be developed simultaneously with the development of Phase 2 of the Aghar field. The refinery would see its capacity reach 70 mcm/d.

It is noteworthy that 8-9 tb/d of gas liquids is recovered from the zone, which is sent straight to the Shiraz refinery.

Safety valves

Ardeshir Kheirkhah, deputy head of overhaul for Aghar and Dalan, said: “More than 50% of reparation work in Aghar and Dalan has been done by local staff. Some significant measures have been taken, including the manufacturing of safety valves that were made in Europe.”

Vahid Nazari, the senior drilling supervisor in Dey, said: “In Fars Province, most fields are located in the Kangan, Upper Dalan, and Nar reservoirs, which hold gas.”

Noting that Iranian companies had manufactured downhole equipment owing to self-sufficiency, he said: “The tools for downhole completion string, made in Iran, have been used for the first time in the field.”

He said Well No. 2 of the field was supplying gas at good pressure, adding: “Each well in this field gives 1 mcm/d of gas. Totally, four wells have been drilled in this field, which would supply at least 4 mcm/d of gas. However, evidence is indicative of production hike in these wells.”

Iran Petroleum