IRAN - Other Onshore Discoveries.

There are several small onshore fields yet to be developed by NIOC and discoveries not yet put on stream, while some are being developed on a small scale. They are listed in alphabetical order: Bandubast, a small gas discovery in south-west Iran to the north of Qatar, made by EGOCO in 1974; Bushgan, found in 1963 with 34 deg. API oil, with reserves said to be about 30m barrels; Danan, north of the Zagros fields close to the Iraqi border, was found in 1971 and oil in place was said to be 100-130m barrels; Doudrou, the smallest of the group of three fields established by SIRIP (Agip-NIOC partnership) in the High Zagros, was found in 1968 with 150m barrels 46 deg. API oil in place; Veyzenhar, one of the northernmost fields in the main Zagros Fold Belt, was found in 1974 with 0.73 TCF of gas; Zeloi, another Zagros field with oil and gas deposits, was partly developed but its oil production is very small; Garangan, adjacent to Gachsaran, was found in 1972 as Garangan 2 tested 3,000 b/d of 39 deg. and 31 deg. API oil from two zones, with 250m barrels of oil and 1 TCF of gas in place; Gulkhari was found in 1964 close to the mouth of the Gulf, with 27 deg. oil & 1.7% S; Halush was found 1971 with reserves estimated at 0.22 TCF, in the northern Gulf; Kabud in the northern Gulf was found in 1971, with oil reserves said to be about 40m barrels; Karun, in N-W Iran, was found in 1970 with gas and 35 deg. API oil; Kilurkarim, found in 1967 in southern Iran, has about 250m barrels of 25 deg. API oil in place; Kualeh Nar was found in 1975 with 100m barrels of oil in place; Kuh-e-Kaki was found 1977 in SW Iran, north of Qatar; Kuh-e-Rig, the middle-sized of three High Zagros oilfields established by SIRIP, was found in 1966 with 150m barrels of oil in place; a Majnoon extension was discovered on the Iranian side of Iraq's Majnoon super giant oilfield during the 1980-88 war; Milatun, in the southern Gulf with oil and gas, found in 1977; Nargesi, found 1975 in the southern Gulf; Palangan, found in 1980 near Dezful, tested 4,500 b/d of light oil; Samand, a gas field in the northernmost part of SW Iran, close to the Iraqi border, was discovered in 1978 with a reserve estimated at 0.93 TCF; Sarkan, in the northernmost part of Iran, was found in 1969 with 900m barrels of 45 deg. API oil and 2.5 TCF of gas at shallow depth; Shurom, the largest of the three High Zagros fields established by SIRIP and discovered in 1970, tested 4,250 b/d of 27 deg. API oil with reserves in place estimated at 500m barrels; Suru, a gas field by the coast north of Qeshm island, with a reserve estimated at 0.92 TCF; Susangerd, near the Iraqi border, was found in 1967 with 19 deg. API, 4% S oil; Tang-e-Bijar, with 2.1-3 TCF of gas was found in 1965 on the Iraqi border east of Baghdad, tested about 23 MCF/day from two shallow zones; West Namuk, discovered in 1973 by Philiran (Phillips/NIOC), lies behind the fields north of Qeshm island with Khuff gas; Zageh is near Deilam in SW Iran with 1.25 bn barrels of oil in place.

Gas fields include Qeshm (with 1.67 TCF), Sarajeh (0.21 TCF), Gonbadli (1.64 TCF), Gashoo (7.5 TCF), Namak Gharbi (1.1 TCF), Kabir Kuh (5.6 TCF) and Baba Qir (3.2 TCF).

Darkhovin, a giant oilfield first discovered in 1964 and confirmed by NIOC in August 1993 near the Khorramshahr field, was offered in mid-1998 for development by foreign companies. It is said to contain 7 bn barrels of sweet North Sea type oil in place reservoired in Cretaceous and Jurassic formations at a depth of 4,000 metres, of which 23% would be recovered according to NIOC. The field should produce 30,000 b/d in the initial phase, but it requires an expensive EOR system. Bidders for this have included Arco, Agip which has done extensive studies on the field, BG, Petronas of Malaysia and Lasmo. Three wells have been drilled at the field including one drilled in 1997 and tested in 1998.

Paydar, a 1979 oil discovery close to the Iraqi border in the northern part of Iran, was offered in mid-1998 for development by foreign companies under a BBC to produce 10,000 b/d. Also offered was Paydar-West, with 190m barrels of recoverable reserves and 1.9 bn barrels in place, which is an extension of a larger field on the Iraqi side of the border where the oil in place is estimated at more than 9 bn barrels. Five wells have been drilled on the Iranian side, but only one was tested.

Sarvestan, near Shiraz, tested some 6,000 b/d of oil in 1973. It was offered in mid-1998 for development by foreign companies to tap about 136m barrels of recoverable reserves. The field is producing about 15,000 b/d. Among the bidders for the BBC are Premier Oil and Monument Oil & Gas of the UK.

Saadat-Abad, an oilfield producing 4,500 b/d, was also offered in mid-1998 for a BBC. Premier Oil and Monument were among the bidders

West Assaluyeh, a gas field, was offered in mid-1998 for development by foreign companies under a BBC. It should produce 500 MCF/day. Tang-e-Bija, another gas field, was also offered for a BBC in mid-1998.

Jufeyr is a seismic structure at the outer edge of central Iran, near the Iraqi border. It was discovered in 1976 by Deminex of Germany, then with NIOC partnership. Oil was found in three zones. The field was offered in mid-1998 for development by foreign companies under a BBC.

North Pars, found in the 1960s, is a super-giant with recoverable reserves said to be 40-100 TCF. It was partly developed in the 1970s by Kalingas for a major LNG venture, but was left largely untapped. It was offered for a BBC in mid-1998, though Shell has been discussing this project with NIOC for years. North Pars gas is rich in liquids, having a condensate content of four barrels per million cubic feet.

Shell Exploration BV had signed a contract with NIOC in May 1993 for a six- month study of the field. The study was submitted to NIOC in March 1994, in which Shell proposed a $2 bn programme to produce 3.6 BCF/day for reinjection into four oilfields: Gachsaran, Bibi Hakimeh, Agha Jari and Binak (see OMT), Agha Jari alone requiring 2.4 BCF/d. The programme was to include processing plants, a pipeline network and EOR systems at the fields. Shell had also proposed to undertake a pilot study at Gachsaran, using its reservoir management system to determine the optimal options for the exploitation of North Pars gas. But the project has been stalled as a result of the US embargo. Shell was to take condensates in return for its investment under a BBC. Shell may still win this project.

Lamard, found in September 1989 as a "super-giant" gas field, lies in southern Fars province. The gas reservoir is 80 km by 12 km in size. Its gas deposit could be one of the biggest in Iran, after the Pars fields and Kangan in the south and Sarakhs in the north.