Iran's energy sector review

Iran is preparing for the second winter after Turkmenistan cut the supply of gas to the Islamic Republic in January 1, 2017, due to long-delayed $2 billion debts. It is preparing to complete a pipeline to north east region, increasing underground gas storage facilities capacity as well as developing new fields in area. Mohammad Mam Beygi, the head of East Oil and Gas Production Company (EOGPC), a subsidiary of Iranian Central Oil Fields Company (ICOFC) said on July 14 that the company is preparing to develop Tous field to produce 3-5 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of gas. The field contains 60 bcm of gas reserves, of which 75-80 percent is recoverable. However, the field wouldn’t add to gross gas production level of EOGPC, which stood at 15.8 bcm during the last fiscal year (ended at March 20). It would compensate and replace the gas fall in the very old Mozdoran field, a very rare field with 3.5 percent sulphur and 6.5 percent Co2 content. The demand of north east region ...

A week after signing a deal between National Iranian Oil Company and a consortium, consisting of French Total (with 50.1% share), Chinese NCPC (30% share) and local Petro Pars (19.9% stake), the pressure from inside the country started to rise, especially from hardliners and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iran’s Oil Ministry and officials have repeatedly explained the benefits of the signed deal with Total, based on newly designed contract model, called Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC), but the critique was growing further. The deal is aimed to produce 56 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) of gas as well as 80,000 barrels per day of gas condensate from the phase 11 of South Pars gas field in a 20-year period, extendable for further five months. Brigadier General Ebadollah Abdollahi, the commander of IRGC's Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base recently called the deal “really unjustified”. What went wrong? According to the $4.8-billion deal, some 335 bcm of...