TEHRAN - National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC) dug and completed the digging operations of seven oil and gas wells during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21), an official with the company said.

According to Gholamreza Mahmoudi, the director of on-shore drilling operations at NIDC, 20,000 meters of drilling were conducted to dig the mentioned wells, Shana reported.

Mahmoudi said three of the drilled wells was development and the rest were workover ones.

The official stated that the digging of the mentioned wells was carried out despite the region's severe hot temperatures.

Earlier this year, NIDC Managing Director Hamidreza Golpayegani announced that the company dug and completed the digging operations of 195 oil and gas wells since the government of late President Raisi took office in August 2021.

Golpayegani said the wells were discovery wells, development-delineation wells, and workover wells.

The official also announced that 158,410 meters of drilling were conducted for digging the mentioned wells through 9,562 operations over the past two years.

As announced by the deputy managing director of NIDC for drilling operation, the company dug and completed the digging operation of 99 oil and gas wells during the Iranian calendar year 1401 (ended on March 20, 2023).

According to Masoud Afshar, the drilled wells consisted of 15 development, five exploratory, and 79 workover ones.

He said that 77 of the mentioned wells were drilled in the operational zone of the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC), eight wells were drilled in the fields under the supervision of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), eight in the fields under the operation of the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), two wells in the framework of project, and four in the operational zone of the drilling management department of National Iranian Oil company (NIOC).

Over 67,000 meters of drilling were conducted for drilling the mentioned wells, the official announced, and noted, “Comprehensive planning has been done to speed up the drilling operations and it is expected that with the reconstruction and modernization of the drilling machines and equipment, in the current year we will see the use of more drilling machines of the company in the oil-rich areas of the country.”

Stating that 63 of the 73 light, heavy, and extra heavy drilling rigs in the company's fleet are in operation or being moved, he put the number of rigs being moved at 20.

The NIDC managing director has declared the company’s infrastructure improvement in line with the programs of the Oil Ministry as the most important achievement of NIDC in the past year.

Speaking at the company’s annual board meeting, Golpayegani said NIDC’s performance in various operational, technical, engineering, support, services, and headquarters departments has been significant and improved in the previous year compared to the preceding two years.

“According to the statistics of our planning department, the productivity index [of the company] reached 62 percent past year, while this figure was 48 percent in 1400,” Golpayegani said.

Pointing to the company’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, the official stated: “Although the past year's performance in all sectors shows growth and an upward trend, we should not be satisfied and try to get the company to an even better position this year.”

Considering the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC)’s strategies for strengthening the presence of domestic companies in the development of the country’s oil fields, NIDC, as a major NIOC subsidiary, has been supporting such companies by lending them drilling rigs and other necessary equipment.

EF/MA