This week’s MEOG looks at Iran’s plans to prioritise the development of the West Karoun oilfield cluster and Saudi net-zero ambitions.

The National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) this week reiterated its focus on expanding production from the West Karoun oilfield cluster, targeting $11bn of budget allocation to add 1mn barrels per day (bpd) of new output.

In comments carried by official state energy media outlet SHANA, Mohsen Khojastehmehr said: “We need around $11bn in investment to develop the second phase of the North Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields, as well as the South Azadegan and Yaran.” He added that the 1mn bpd expansion was one of NIOC’s top priorities.

The West Karoun cluster in Khuzestan Province includes several large oilfields that straddle the Iran-Iraq border, namely Azadegan, Yaran, Yadavaran and Darkhoein, with the first three divided into north and south projects. The block holds an estimated 67bn barrels of oil in place (OIP). Oil production from the fields currently runs at around 420,000 bpd.

Khojastehmehr was appointed head of NIOC in September. He made the comments during a ceremony to unveil Abouzar Sharifi as CEO of NIOC subsidiary Petroleum Engineering and Development Co. (PEDEC), replacing Touraj Dehghani.

Khojastehmehr stressed the need for the swift implementation of oilfields shared with Iraq, adding that “delays and shortcomings in the development of these fields have been due to defects in the contracts concluded between PEDEC and the developers”.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced that it would reduce emissions from the Kingdom to ‘net zero’ by 2060, with oil firm Saudi Aramco also setting an ambitious target for emissions. Aramco’s target is to reach ‘net zero’ Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, suggesting that both goals will rely heavily on the offshoring of emissions, with Riyadh set to remain reliant on crude oil exports for decades to come.

Saudi’s improbable target was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) during the Kingdom’s Saudi Green Initiative Forum ahead of the COP26 climate conference.

He said that 450mn trees would be planted across Saudi Arabia amid efforts to rehabilitate large areas of degraded land by 2030 and the mitigation of 200mn tonnes of emissions.

©2021 bne IntelliNews , source Magazine