“Azar Oilfield became operational at the beginning of March at a rate of 15,000 barrels per day. So far, 4 million barrels of oil have been extracted from the field,” Behzad Mohammadi was also quoted as saying by the NIOC news portal.
Output reached 30,000 barrels a day in May and plans are now underway to raise and stabilize production at 65,000 barrels a day and eventually to 100,000 bpd.
Referring to the complexity of oil production in Azar Oilfield, Mohammadi noted that plans have been devised to develop the second phase of the oilfield under the new contractual framework of oil and gas deals, dubbed Iran Petroleum Contract, in cooperation with international energy companies, Financial Tribune reported.
Mohammadi said the field's crude oil API, a measure of how heavy or light petroleum liquids are compared to water, stands at 33, which ranks it among medium grade crudes.
The OIEC and Russia's Gazprom Neft signed a memorandum of understanding in July in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to assess the potentials of Changuleh and Azar oilfields in Ilam.
The parties have agreed to hold joint consultations with NIOC on the evaluation, exploration and development of assets offered to investors, and to consider additional opportunities for cooperation in Iran.
Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Gazprom Neft is the oil arm of gas giant Gazprom, which owns about 96% of its shares.
Azar holds 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil and is one of the joint fields with Iraq, along with Dehloran, West Paydar, Naft-Shahr, Azadegan and Yadavaran.
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