TEHRAN - Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) has announced the beginning of production from the country’s giant Asmari oil reservoir in the southern Abouzar field, Shana reported.

According to Javad Rostami, the head of IOOC’s Oil Engineering Department, the mentioned success has been achieved for the first time in the history of the reservoir’s development.

“With the planning made in the past few months for the development of the upper Asmari layer of Abouzar field, a new well called A14-4H was drilled in this reservoir and after the completion of the well and its commissioning, oil production from this reservoir was realized for the first time in history of the field’s development,” Rostami said.

The official noted that based on the previous studies and evaluation of production results from the new well, plans are now underway for drilling more wells to further development of this reservoir and it is predicted that with drilling five to eight new wells, production of 6,000 to 10,000 barrels of oil from this reservoir will become possible.

The development of Abouzar oil field has been so far focused on two other reservoirs of the field and with the new developments, Asmari has also been added to the productive reservoirs of the field, according to the official.

Abouzar is located 76 kilometers southwest of Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf. Its output, now at roughly 200,000 barrels per day, is transferred via a pipeline to the island for export after being processed.

So far, 107 oil wells have been drilled in the Abouzar field, of which 90 are in operation and the rest are idle due to age and technical problems.

Currently, more than 100 people are working on the platforms of the field and most of the country's oil production in the Persian Gulf comes from this field.

The field's reservoir is estimated to contain about four billion barrels of in-place crude oil, 20 percent of which can be extracted.

EF/MA