EOGPC, Sustainable Gas Supplier/
East Oil and Gas Production Company (EOGPC), a subsidiary of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC), produces natural gas and gas condensates from Khangiran fields (Mozdouran, Shourijeh-B and Shourijeh-D reservoirs) and the jointly owned Gonbadly field in Sarakhs in northeastern Iran.
EOGPC supplies gas to Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan and South Khorasan, Golestan, Mazandaran and partly Semnan provinces. By providing gas to these provinces, the company is playing a prominent role in the economic blossoming of the country in the energy sector.
“The top priority of this company is production, particularly in cold seasons of the year, because the EOGPC operating area is among cold areas in the country and therefore planning must be such that before cold seasons of the year start all maintenance, overhaul, and preventive activities must have been finished so that we can benefit from its production advantages and continuousness during sensitive periods of time,” Mohammad Mam-Beigi, CEO of EOGPC, told "Iran Petroleum".
“For years EOGPC has made sophisticated plans for the technical management of the workover of wells and related services in a bid to fulfill its obligations and no problem has been created so far in this regard,” he added.
Mam-Beigi said the reservoirs operating under EOGPC administration are in the second half of their lifecycle, noting that the company’s management has made efforts to help sustainable energy supply in this area through appropriate planning.
The company has plans to ensure sustained production which is still in the exploration and appraisal phase. New fields are expected to start production in the coming years.
Holding 8% of Iran Gas Deposits
Mam-Beigi said the EOGPC’s recoverable gas reserves stood at more than 647 bcm, which make up nearly 8% of the country’s gas reserves and 17% of ICOFC gas reserves. So far 332 bcm of gas has been recovered from EOGPC fields and there still remains 315 bcm for future decades.
Meanwhile, due to development projects like increased sour gas production from Khangiran field and Shourijeh gas storage facility, as well as discovery of new fields like Tous and Attar, EOGPC is heading towards a bright future.
“In the current year development of new fields has been planned. One of these new fields is Tous which we hope will become operational soon. This field has sour gas production potential,” he said.
Referring to the development of Tous field, Mam-Beigi said: “Astan Quds Razavi has signed a memorandum of understanding with ICOFC. It has so far conducted detailed and development plans for this field and the case has been referred to the Reservoirs Committee for further examination. In my view, in case the ICOFC manages to provide the required finance, it would be able to develop this field on its own.”
He announced the existence of Kashfroud gas layer beneath Mozdouran layer in Khangiran field, saying: “In the past, two wells were used in this layer temporarily. The results of tests indicated that this layer holds very high-pressure gas. Production from this layer is expected to be realized thanks to plans devised by the Exploration Directorate of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Based on these conditions, we will be able to have one operating gas field in this part of the country for years.”
Khangiran Gas Supply
Khangiran gas field is located in Khangiran area and 25 kilometers northwest of the border city of Sarakhs. It has three separate gas reservoirs (Mozdouran, Shourijeh B and Shourijeh D) which lay one another. The one on the top is Shourijeh which is divided into layers A, B, C, D and E. At present, only the layers B and D contain sweet gas.
Mam-Beigi said the most dangerous sour gas in the petroleum industry currently exists in Khangiran operating area.
“The sour gas in Khangiran area with H2S content of more than 36,000 ppm is among the most dangerous sour gases in the petroleum industry of Iran and the world. With a primary wellhead pressure of 5,400 pam, it has special design in terms of safety and operation,” he added.
Regarding tough weather conditions in Khangiran operating area, he said: “The geographical conditions of this area are such that the temperature varies between 50 degrees Centigrade in summer and minus 25 degrees Centigrade in winter.”
“Furthermore, the absence of desirable fauna, recent drought and quick sands moved by strong monsoon winds are among other environmental problems in this area,” he added.
Shourijeh-B reservoir, which was discovered in 1967, started production in 1974 by supplying gas to the city of Mashhad. Currently, 50 wells of the reservoir are producing up to 1.5 mcm/d of gas. After condensates are separated by wellhead separators, the remaining gas is delivered to an old dehydration plant. The recoverable gas reserves of this reservoir are estimated at 16.141 bcm, nearly 72% of which was recovered by March 2006.
Shourijeh-D reservoir was discovered in 1987 and started production the same year. Like Shourijeh-B, Shourijeh-D’s gas lacks sulfured hydrogen and is known as sweet gas. But due to carbonic gas impurities, it corrodes pipelines and installations. Therefore, in a bid to contain corrosion, special substances are injected into the wells.