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Private Sector to Take Over Oil Wells |
Management and steering of oil and gas wells
will be given to the private sector.
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Managing
director of the National Iranian Oil Company has noted that the total volume
of Iran’s oil reserves will be increased by 500 billion barrels through
increasing recovery factor of the Iranian oil fields by only one percent.
Ahmad
Qalebani added that the Iranian private sector will be soon allowed to take
over some oil wells.
The
managing director, who was addressing a conference on productivity and
excellence in the Iranian oil industry, noted that Iran enjoyed a total of 700
billion barrels of crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons while more exploration
should be carried out in many unexplored areas of the country.
The
deputy minister of petroleum further stated that Iran’s exploitable reserves
were previously put at more than 155 billion barrels, but the Fifth Economic
Development Plan has obliged officials to increase recovery factor of the oil
wells by one percent.
He said
that during the Fifth Economic Development Plan a total of 5 billion dollars
will be invested in raising the recovery factor, which if increased by 5
percent, the value of Iran’s oil reserves will increase by 100 billion
dollars.
He
further noted that there is a plan to allow the private sector to take over
management of some oil wells, adding, “Based on this plan, management and
steering of oil and gas wells will be given to the private sector while the
government will be still owner of oil and gas reserves which constitute
national riches.”
The
official stated that better management and exploitation of oil and gas wells
will lead to sustainable production from those wells and the National Iranian
Oil Company will only supervise activities of the private sector.
Qalebani
mentioned privatization of management and maintenance of certain oil
facilities; privatizing management and production from wells, exploration and
development; establishment of mixed Iranian and foreign companies; advance
sale of products; establishment of upstream oil and gas companies based on
international trade standards; taking advantage of a financial model for
construction of necessary facilities; as well as commissioning of oil
facilities as the best ways through which private sector could contribute to
the oil sector.
$150 billion
to be invested in upstream oil and gas industry:
Meanwhile, Mohsen Khojasteh
Mehr, deputy minister of oil for planning and supervision over hydrocarbon
reserves, noted that 150 billion dollars will be invested in upstream oil and
gas industry during the Fifth Economic Development Plan to increase the
sector’s revenues to 179 billion dollars by 2015.
He said that a total of 150
billion dollars will be invested in the sector which will increase
productivity of upstream investments by 14 percent at the end of the Fifth
Economic Development Plan.
The official said that about 100 billion dollars will come from foreign
reserves and Iranian banks, about 60 billion dollars through buyback deals
with foreign companies, and about 50 billion dollars through internal funds of
the National Iranian Oil Company. |
