Iran to start extracting oil from field shared with Saudi Arabia

By Al-Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Aug 2022 16:24
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The Esfandiar oil field, which Iran plans to drill and explore, is connected to Saudi Arabia's Umm Lulu oil field.

Iran to begin drilling oil field connected to Saudi Arabian oil field

On Saturday, an Iranian official unveiled plans for the development of an oil field that straddles the maritime border with Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf within the next three years.

He added that a contract will be awarded for the first phase of development works at Esfandiar oilfield, which is connected to Saudi Arabia’s Umm Lulu oil field.

Alireza Mehdizadeh, who leads the Iranian Offshore Oil Company, said a drilling rig and four production wells have been planned for the first phase of the development project in Esfandiar, which is located 95 kilometers to the southwest of the Iranian island of Kharg and is estimated to have more than 500 million barrels of oil.

"The fluid mixture produced in the oilfield will be processed in the nearby Abuzar oilfield before it is transferred to Kharg Island," Mehdizadeh added.

He said Iran also plans to drill an exploration well in Esfandiar to obtain more information about the structure of the oil reservoir and to have a better analysis of the next phases of the development project in the field.

Iran has mobilized its domestic resources to develop oil fields that are shared with neighboring countries as restrictions imposed on the country’s petroleum sector, because of US sanctions, have dissuaded foreign firms from investing in major oil and gas projects.

The Iranian Oil Ministry announced in March that it will start drilling at a disputed gas field that is shared with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait after the two Arab countries said they had reached an agreement to build out the field.

In early June this year, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said sanctions on Iran did nothing to impede Iran's growth. As the world's largest gas capacity holder, Iran presently possesses around 34 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves and is capable of meeting a substantial portion of global requirements.

The latest updates on the Vienna talks reveal that Iran made major strides in the nuclear talks in Vienna, with concerns echoed by "Israel" in a message sent to the Biden administration saying the EU draft resolution on the Iran nuclear deal, which is being discussed with Iran, crosses the red lines set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The EU likewise proposed easing sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in order to revive the Iranian nuclear deal, Politico reported on Friday.