TEHRAN – Deputy Head of Iranian Parliament’s Energy Committee has said the Oil Ministry is seriously determined to pursue the programs for developing the country’s joint oil and gas fields.

Referring to the one-day visit of Oil Minister Javad Oji to Khuzestan province, Qassem Saedi told Shana: “Oji's visit to Khuzestan was aimed at reviewing the condition of drilling rigs, the activities of the province's refining and petrochemical sectors, as well as the quantitative and qualitative assessment of production, development, and operation at joint oil fields.”

Saedi also pointed to the visit of the oil minister to the West Karoun region for assessing the operation of the facilities of Yadavaran oil field, adding: “The determination of the Oil Ministry in stepping toward increasing production in joint fields is commendable.”

“Preventing the crude sale with the development of downstream industries is a necessity that cannot be ignored because it can affect the employment, as well as the development of the oil and gas industry,” the official stated.

He further stressed that more attention should be paid to joint oil and gas fields.

Iran’s oil industry has been strongly focused on developing joint oil and gas fields, aiming to increase the share of such fields in the country’s oil and gas production.

Back in June 2019, former Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had put the development of Iran’s shared oil and gas fields as the main priority of the ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

In the decree addressed to Masoud Karbasian, the NIOC head, completion and inauguration of all South Pars gas field phases as well as increasing the capacity of crude oil production in the joint fields of Karun region and construction of the Goureh-Jask oil pipeline and the Jask port’s oil terminal were mentioned as the main priorities for NIOC most of which were achieved by the end of the previous government incumbency.

EF/MA