A new oil discovery puts the country on the map as a Caspian Sea player.
The Caspian Sea hasn’t given up all of its secrets just yet.
More than 100 years after Iran’s last Caspian find, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported an oil find that could yield as much as 10 billion barrels of oil. Fars also noted that this amount is equal to 7% of the country’s known oil reserves.
“After 104 years for the first time, oil erupted in Caspian Sea waters during drilling operations,” Ali Osouli, managing director of Khazar Exploration and Production Co., reportedly told the Iran oil ministry.
The oil was discovered during the development of a major gas field in the area.
Robin Mills, head of consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management in Dubai, told ArabianBusiness.com that Iran has shied away from its Caspian holdings due to border disputes, sanctions, and the fact that the acreage is in deep water.
“Iran has never found anything in its section of the Caspian,” Mills said. “Ten billion barrels is certainly something to talk about. The question is whether Iran has the technology to develop it.”
The website went on to point out that majors have left Iran to comply with U.S. sanctions, leaving Iran to rely on its own technology for exploration and production.
Early reports indicate oil pay at least 24 m (78 ft) thick at a depth of 2,460 m (8,071 ft). Osouli told Fars that the company would continue to test the field to further delineate it.
Contact the author, Rhonda Duey, at rduey@hartenergy.com.
