Prioritized Projects Named
A deputy head of National Iranian Oil Company has said named prioritized development projects to be awarded under the newly developed format of oil contracts.
“Azadegan, the oil layer of South Pars [gas field] and Farzad B are among the prioritized projects” to be awarded under the new format of contracts, said Gholam-Reza Manouchehri, who is deputy NIOC for engineering and development affairs.
“I cannot say with precision which contract would be finalized by the end of the year because we do not know which project would go ahead better,” he said.
Manouchehri said negotiations were under way with Indian companies for the development of Farzad B, adding: “For Farzad B, a contract will be signed with the Indians because there has already been a contract with them. Of course it is not finalized yet.”
“Since the gas in this field is sour and the reservoir’s pressure is high with a low amount of condensate, the issue under discussion between Iran and India is the economic adaptability of this development project with this model of contract,” he said. “In a meeting recently held, our views got closer to the Indians’, but the Indian side is still to examine the issue and announce us the result so that we would soon have meetings in this regard.”
Manouchehri said Denmark’s Maersk has shown interest for the development of the oil layer of South Pars gas field.
“For the development of the oil layer of South Pars, an MoU has been signed with Maersk that sets the foundation for a contract. But we have not yet decided on putting this field out to tender or dealing with it outside bidding legal procedures,” he said.
Manouchehri also announced that non-disclosure agreements have been signed with Japan’s Inpex, China’s CNPC and France’s Total for the development of Azadegan oil field.
“For the development of Azadegan, besides Total, we have also signed MoUs with Inpex and one or two other companies and this field is planned to be put out to tender,” he said.
“We have just signed confidentiality agreement with Inpex and CNPC and we had already signed a non-disclosure agreement with Total,” said Manouchehri.
He has already announced that three oil deals are to be signed with foreign companies before the end of Iran’s calendar year in March 2017.
NIOC to Ask for Int’l Bidders’ Documents
The CEO of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has said that international companies willing to bid for projects in Iran will be asked to provide documents.
Ali Kardor was speaking after the Iranian parliament approved the newly drafted type of oil contracts with sweetened terms aimed at tempting back foreign companies.
“According to legal procedures, the request for the submission of financial and technical data will be sent by NIOC to international Exploration and Production (E&P) and international oil companies (IOC),” he said.
“Once the documents have been submitted by the companies, NIOC will start assessing the applicants in order to announce the list of its endorsed bidders,” he added.
Kardor said the short-listed bidders would be able to choose from a basket of contract models which are mainly the new model of oil contracts, buyback and engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPCF).
He said that Iranian companies would be able to steer the development of medium-sized and small-sized fields and team up with foreign companies.
Kardor added that large oil fields would be awarded to foreign companies under the terms of new deals, adding that qualified bidders would form a joint operating company with NIOC for the development of fields.
Iran Oil Feeds 40 World Refineries
A senior Iranian oil official has said that Iran’s crude oil is fed into 40 refineries across the globe.
“The bulk of refineries that use Iran’s oil are located in Asia and there are also some in Europe,” Mohsen Qamsari, director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said.
He said that the Iraqi Kurdistan Region has already requested ran to help sell its oil, adding: “Export of Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s crude oil by Iran needs some technical work like building new installations and new pipelines that would cost too much. In any case, negotiations are under way to that effect and we cannot give a final response now.”
Regarding blending oil with the objective of winning more customers, Qamsari said: “The consumption of different refineries in the world has changed from the past and many refineries no longer use only a specific category of crude oil. Some refineries in the world purchase a variety of crudes and then blend them. That is a way to strike a balance between revenue and profit. Some refineries in the world blend 30 to 40 types o crude oil before consuming them.”
He noted that crude oil blending is a common method of satisfying buyers, saying: “We are seeking to implement crude oil blending system at Kharg terminal. Some refineries in the world need a specific category of crude oil that could be purchased and that opens our hand for marketing.”
Iran H1 Gas Exports Near 4 bcm
Iran has sent nearly 4 billion cubic meters of natural gas to foreign destinations in its half-yearly exports, a gas official said.
Mehdi Jamshidi Dana, director of the Dispatching Department of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), said the country's exports amounted to 3.92 bcm during the six-month period between March 20 and September 21.
He said the exports rose by 3.4% year-on-year.
Furthermore, the country's gas imports dropped by 25.1% from the same period last year.
Jamshidi added that over 6 bcm of sour gas was injected to Aghajari oilfield for enhanced recovery.
He said another 2 bcm of sweet gas was also injected to oil reserves during the same period.
Over 1 bcm of gas was also injected to Shourijeh and Sarajeh underground gas storage facilities in central Iran for withdrawal in cold seasons. The amount is 17% higher year-on-year.
Iran recovered over 102 bcm of gas during the first half of the current Iranian calendar year which began on March 20, up 9.1% from the same period a year earlier.
Out of the total amount of gas consumed in the country, 68 bcm go to households, 55 bcm to industries and 58 bcm to power plants.