TEHRAN – The construction of the South Azadegan oil field’s Central Treatment Export Plant (CTEP) is going to be completed by the end of the Iranian calendar year of 1400 (March 20, 2022), IRNA reported, quoting an official with Iran’s Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC).

According to Nasrollah Zareie, the supervisor of the field’s development project, with a capacity of 320,000 barrels per day (bpd), South Azadegan CTEP is going to be the country’s biggest upstream treatment plant.

The official noted that the project’s long lead Items (LLI), which were ordered to be built by domestic firms and the PEDEC, are mostly provided and transported to the project site.

“South Azadegan project has always been one of the priorities of the National Iranian Oil Company due to its importance, value and being a shared field,” Zareie said.
The field’s output has increased from 40,000 bpd in 2013 to its current output which is 140,000 bpd, the official said.

In February 2016, PEDEC invited qualified companies to take part at the prequalification stage of an engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) tender for construction of the South Azadegan’s Central CTEP.

South Azadegan is one of five major oilfields Iran shares with Iraq at the western part of Iran’s southwestern region of Karoun, known as West Karoun fields.

West Karoun holds great importance for the country’s oil industry since according to the latest studies, its in-situ deposit is estimated to be 67 billion barrels containing both light and heavy crude oils, and therefore it could have a big impact on Iran’s oil output increases in the future.

With the fields fully operational, their output could add 1.2 million bpd to the country’s oil production capacity.

Having an estimated 67 billion barrels of in-situ oil, West Karoun fields definitely deserve the spotlight which has been put on them recently.

EF/MA