Iran to increase crude production

Iran’s crude output capacity will rise by 150 thousand barrels per day this year with the launch of six new projects, an Iranian oil official says.
Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ahmad Qalebani named the projects as desalination units of Binak and Mansouri oilfields and the development plans of Masjed Soleiman, Sarvestan, Khesht and Sa’adatabad oilfields, Mehr News Agency reported on Sunday.

Binak desalination unit with a daily processing capacity of 50 thousand barrels of salty crude will be launched in the near future, Qalebani said.

The official further said that the Masjid Soleiman development plan, aimed at increasing the daily output by 25,000 barrels of oil, will be operational by the end of the current Iranian year (March 2010).

With the development of phase one of Sarvestan, Khesht and Sa’adatabad oilfields, some 30,000 barrels per day will be added to the country’s oil production, he further explained.

It is expected that the complete development of these three fields will contribute to a daily 45,000-barrel hike in Iran’s crude output.

The three oilfields are located in Iran’s southern province of Fars.

Desalination unit of Mansouri oilfield, which will be operational soon, will help add 38,000 barrels per day to the country’s crude production capacity, Qalebani went on to say.

The official put the current production of the field at 107,000 barrels per day.

Mansouri oilfield is located about 60 kilometers north of the Persian Gulf and near the southwestern city of Ahvaz.

The Islamic Republic has the world’s second largest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia and the second largest gas reserves behind Russia.