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Power for

the future
Modern oil exploration in Iran started in
1901, with the first commercial oil discovery
coming at Masjid-I-Sulaiman seven years
later. Today, Iran is one of the world's
leading hydrocarbon nations, producing
more than 3,600,000 B/D in 1997 and
exporting just over 70% of that total.

Two-thirds of Iran – around one million


square kilometers – is covered by
sedimentary strata that could contain oil
and gas. Independent studies indicate that
there are 20–30 billion barrels of oil still to
be found in the country. Unlocking the
potential of these reserves will ensure that
Iran maintains its position as a major oil and
gas producer.
he Islamic Republic of Iran holds The fracture systems in many of mentioned by Herodotus in his History,
T around 93 billion barrels of proven
oil reserves, roughly 9% of the world’s
Iran’s major reservoirs are complex and
still being defined. Geological and
by Strabo in his Geography and in other
ancient texts.
total. In Iran, oil has been collected from engineering studies of the Asmari Oil seeps were important clues, but
seeps for thousands of years. Iran was provided the oil industry with drilling operations in Iran were not
one of the first countries in the world to important knowledge and experience of without risk and the terrain was
produce oil. Today, oil has become the fractured carbonates that spread considered too remote by most. The
main and vital source of the country’s around the world. Detailed examination leaders of European oil exploration and
energy and wealth through export. of these structural features has helped production, the Rothschild financial
The vast majority of Iran’s crude oil is to reveal the fine-scale variations empire and Henri Deterding of Royal
located in a number of giant, onshore within each field, and so enhance oil Dutch declined offers to join the earliest
fields in the Khuzestan region close to and gas production. Iranian drilling venture. As a result,
the border with Iraq. More than half of The primary hydrocarbon provinces D’Arcy financed the operation from his
the country’s 40 producing fields in Iran are distributed over a very large own pocket.
contain over one billion barrels of oil. area south and west of the Zagros Following the writings of the French
The onshore Ahwaz, Marun, Gachsaran, mountains. This tough working geologist and archaeologist, Jacques de
Agha Jari, and Bibi Hakimeh fields alone environment has, over the past 60 Morgan, the exploration efforts began in
account for about two-thirds of Iran’s oil years, required a sophisticated and 1903 with the drilling of wells on the Chia
production. Most of Iran’s crude oil is efficient logistics operation supporting Sarkh anticline close to the Iran–Iraq
medium gravity and low in sulfur. a professionally organized border north of Baghdad. It is a very
Iran is OPEC’s second-largest oil infrastructure of oilfield services. large, simple, surface anticline with
producer, with an average 1998 crude oil Logistics, transportation and the copious seeps along its crest.
output of 3.6 MMB/D. The country’s inaccessibility of some fields make Iran Unfortunately, one of two wells drilled on
current sustainable production capacity a challenging working environment this structure came up dry while the
may be as high as 4 MMB/D. where oilfield engineers have to make other was a noncommercial producer.
In December 1997, Iran’s Oil Minister full and effective use of their problem- However, abundant shows of oil helped to Figure 5.1: Driller George Bernard Reynolds, ‘master of the oil springs’,
Zanganeh stated that the country aimed solving experience. maintain interest in this prospect. (far left) lunching in Iran. Reynolds ignored instructions to stop drilling and
to boost oil production capacity by With funds running out, D’Arcy gained found oil at Masjid-i-Sulaiman
200,000 to 250,000 B/D each year, support from the Burmah Oil Company,
possibly surpassing 6 MMB/D by 2010.
The early days whose exploration program was
Iran’s production is limited by OPEC History and politics explain why the first encouraged by the British Naval Fuel
policy. In June 1998, Iran agreed to Middle East oil was discovered in Iran. Committee needing fuel for the British
reduce its production by 305,000 B/D. As At the beginning of the twentieth fleet that was beginning to convert from
of April 1999, Iran’s production quota century, Iran was the only sovereign coal to oil.
was set at 3.359 MMB/D. nation of the Middle East not under the The next drill site selected was at
domination of the Turkish empire. The Maidan-i-Naftan, the Plain of Oil and a
country had been the subject of specific site, Masjid-i-Sulaiman, that took
The geology of Iran geological reports that suggested the its name from the nearby fire temple.
The geological history of Iran’s possibility of oil entrapment. British However, the site was very remote and
sedimentary basins is a complex story. (1855) and French geologists (1892) drilling would require construction of a
Two mountain ranges, the Alborz range independently provided reports that road. This led to two more dry holes
in the north and the Zagros range in the encouraged William D’Arcy, a successful being drilled in more accessible Mamtain
south, divide Iran into three geologically gold speculator, into the oil business. (in the Khuzestan area) in 1906.
different regions. Compression along the This decision resulted in the first D’Arcy’s driller, George Bernard
northern edge of the Arabian tectonic commercial Middle East oil production. Reynolds (Figure 5.1), chose the first site
plate, caused by its collision with Iran, Perhaps the presence of oil seeps was on the Masjid-i-Sulaiman anticline. This
created one of the richest fold belts in the deciding factor for D’Arcy, who had was spudded on January 22, 1908. Later, a
the world. made his fortune by buying and geologist with Burmah Oil chose a second
The belt that runs from Turkey, developing a gold mine that its owners site after explaining the errors in the
parallelling the Iran–Iraq border all the believed they had exhausted. driller’s choice. A little more than a week
way to the Straits of Hormuz, contains In fact, oil seeps played a role in many before making an oil discovery, Burmah Oil
some of the world’s largest anticlinal oil of the important oil discoveries of the sent instructions to Reynolds to shut down
reservoirs. For example, the Ahwaz Middle East and elsewhere in the world. operations. However, Reynolds ignored
reservoir is around 70 km long. These In those early years of oil exploration, these instructions and his determination
huge, structural fields have given long seeps were some of the most important won the day when the Masjid-i-Sulaiman
periods of dependable oil and gas criteria for drilling and initial No 1 well came in, gushing oil 50 ft into
production. The Asmari, the Middle East’s investment. Seeps were the essential the air on May 26, 1908, from a depth of
first oil-producing horizon, was drilled in clues to oil at depth. 1180 ft. The first commercial oil producer
1908 and remains, more than 90 years However, the Middle East oil seeps in the Middle East, the Masjid-i-Sulaiman Figure 5.2: The discovery well at Masjid-i-Sulaiman on the day commercial
later, the principal oil producer for Iran. have a long historical record, being field (Figures 5.2 and 5.3). quantities of oil were found – May 26, 1908. This discovery was the first
History

History
step in a process that would transform the Middle East

36 Middle East Reservoir Review Middle East Reservoir Review 37


Figure 5.3: Masjid-i- be the birthplace of modern oilfield
Sulaiman, where a development. New engineering
1908 gusher principles were implemented here,
heralded the dawn of notably the use of wider well spacings.
the Middle East’s oil Until this time, most oil fields had
and gas industry. The been developed with wells spaced just a
steam boiler in the few meters apart. In 1928 Hugo Kamb, a
background was world authority on the petroleum
used to drive the industry at that time, said that “the
original drilling gear Masjid-i-Sulaiman field is probably the
most efficiently developed oil pool in the
world” (Figure 5.6).
Careful assessment of early pressure
measurements and their variation with
depth was a pioneering approach to
understanding of the field’s behavior and
characteristics. Many modern oilfield
methods have been tested and refined in
Iran and other parts of the Middle East.

The investment required to make one These early exploration drilling electrical imagery in the 1980s. However,
Oil nationalization
of the world’s biggest oil fields a programs had mixed success but when the early engineering studies of fracturing The National Iranian Oil Company
commercial operation, was huge and oil was found the results could be were conducted using state-of-the-art (NIOC) was established in 1951, and by
resulted in the incorporation of the spectacular (Figure 5.4). methods and their results influenced the 1954 an exclusive oil exploration
Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1909. worldwide petroleum industry. concession had been granted to a
Four years later a pipeline from Masjid- consortium of American and European
i-Sulaiman field to the coast at Abadan
Carbonates come of age oil companies.
was completed. This allowed the first oil In the early days at Masjid-i-Sulaiman,
Geophysical pioneers In 1955, the Exploration Division was
to be exported. Almost one year later a most people believed that the oil was Some of the earliest geophysical surveys formed by NIOC. This department had
refinery was completed at Abadan. being produced from the Gachsaran for petroleum exploration were responsibility for exploration and
D’Arcy (and the Anglo-Persian Oil formation rather than the underlying performed in Iran (Figure 5.5). Torsion- exploitation of oil and gas throughout
Company) had to wait until 1914 for Asmari formation because most of the balance gravity measurements, the country, with the exception of
their first profits – 14 years after producing wells were shallow. However, experimental magnetic surveys and southwest Iran which lay in the
exploration began in Iran. He did geological studies of cable tool cuttings electromagnetic surveys were all consortium’s concession area.
receive considerable support from the and correlation with Asmari outcrops, conducted in the 1920s. The consortium was abolished in 1973,
British Empire, including a detachment about 60 km from the field, proved that The new technique of seismic and replaced by the Oil Service
of Bengal Lancers that went to Masjid-i- the Asmari carbonate was the prolific refraction was imported, but the Company of Iran (OSCI) that, under
Sulaiman to protect the growing oil producing formation. greatest successes were achieved NIOC guidance and supervision,
operations considered critical to the The realization that oil was being through local modifications and conducted exploration and production
naval oil conversion championed by produced from a carbonate formation had improvements that finally allowed the activities in southwest Iran.
Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the a major impact on exploration around the true, subsurface, anticlinal structures to Following the Islamic Revolution of
British Admiralty. world. Until this discovery, the world’s be accurately mapped even when the 1978, exploration and production
A new deal or arrangement was made geologists had focused their search for surface structure was misleading. activities were regrouped under two
with a 25-year supply contract and the hydrocarbons in sandstone units. In the early 1930s, a joint directorates (NIOC North and NIOC South
British Government holding a controlling Excellent outcrop studies of fractures geological–engineering study Fields) and a single affiliate company (the
interest of 51%. The subsidiary D’Arcy were undertaken, but the realization that demonstrated that the Asmari in the Iran Offshore Oil Company).
Explo Company became British the surface fracture systems were Masjid-i-Sulaiman field was a single In the mid-1970s, Iran’s oil exports
Petroleum. Early success in Iran sometimes misleading would not clear hydraulic unit with good communication (around 5 MMB/D) accounted for around Figure 5.4: Early drilling operations in Iran were often dramatic. At Alborez
prompted further exploration work. until the introduction of borehole through fractures. This field proved to 15% of the world total. By 1981, the flare from this well caused huge mud and ‘lava’ flows
History

History
38 Middle East Reservoir Review Middle East Reservoir Review 39
production had dropped back to affairs. According to press reports, the processing and interpretation centers for as Ahwaz, Dorood, Marun and Soroush.
0.7 MMB/D – just 2.8% of the world total. plan called for “fundamental changes in petrophysical, geological, geophysical Geologists, petrophysicists,
Since 1981, however, there has been a management”. Since January 1999, the and reservoir applications. Cooperation geophysicists, reservoir engineers and
gradual but sustained improvement in oil ministry has been filing monthly has helped to ensure the success of technical support personnel work
production figures, which now stand at reports on the amounts of crude oil, extensive field studies on giant reservoirs together in integrated asset teams to
more than 3.5 MMB/D. refined products and gas exports. These such as the Ahwaz and Marun fields. deal with a range of major challenges.
Oil is a vital element in the modern will help to track Iran’s actual revenues A detailed reservoir characterization
Iranian economy, accounting for around from these sales. of Marun field evaluated fluid contacts,
95% of foreign currency earnings. The NIOC has recently focused on Characterizing Iran’s reservoir fluids, reservoir geology and
The 1990s saw a move towards frontier exploration efforts in the hopes petrophysical logs. The project also
reservoirs
international cooperation between the of adding 1–2 billion barrels to proven examined faulting, fracturing and other
national oil companies, and international reserves by the end of 1999. The NIOC earth scientists, working in structural features. Detailed geological
oil and service companies. Of all the oil- company’s current plans calls for drilling partnership with GeoQuest have built and reservoir models for Ahwaz field
producing countries in the Middle East, a large number of on- and offshore up extensive experience in analyzing helped to improve the accuracy of
the Iranian oil and gas development exploration wells. the reservoir properties and predictions about this field.
policy has been one of the most radical Since 1995, NIOC has made several characteristics of Iranian oil fields such A full-field simulation of Dorood field,
and forward looking. significant discoveries, including the
Darkhoven field, which is located
offshore Abadan and contains 2.5 billion Trillion cubic meters
The buy-back system barrels of low-sulfur, 39° API crude oil.
The buy-back process began in 1995, NIOC planned to start production from 13.9
(10.0%)
with calls for international investment in Darkhoven in 1999, with an initial
offshore fields. That initiative attracted production of 30,000 B/D and a second 24.6
(17.6%)
just two offers and only one – the South phase peak of 60,000 B/D. This is a
45.2
Pars gas field development with Total – challenging field with target reservoir (32.4%)
was implemented. depths greater than 15,000 ft. Near
In March 1998, the NIOC revealed Ganaveh, NIOC also found two onshore
plans to extend the scope of projects oil fields holding combined reserves of
available to international companies 100 million barrels.
through buy-back schemes to incorporate Figure 5.5: Geophysical operations in Iran began early with seismic 56.0
(40.0%)
some of its onshore oil reserves. In July refraction techniques being ‘imported’ in 1920. Working conditions
1998, Iran invited investment bids for for the early field crews were extremely tough
Oilfield service in Iran
about 40 upstream projects and a single The first Schlumberger operation in the
OECD Middle East
downstream operation (upgrading the Islamic Republic of Iran took place in
Former Soviet Iran (21%)
refinery at Abadan). Around 100 offers 1936 with the drilling of well Laleh-1 in Union Iraq (3.1%)
were received. the Masjid-i-Sulaiman area. The Other Kuwait (1.5%)
With the world’s fourth largest oil resistivity log shown in Figure 5.7 is the Saudi Arabia (5.3%)
UAE (5.8%)
reserves (at least 93 billion barrels) and oldest surviving log from Iran and was
second largest gas reserves (more than recorded by Marcel and Conrad
21 trillion cubic meters) Iran is in a very Schlumberger in 1938. Figure 5.8: With the world’s second largest
strong position. The investment and new World War II halted all logging natural gas reserves, Iran is well positioned
technology that will help NIOC to develop operations in Iran. Schlumberger logging to supply the world’s changing energy needs
these vast reserves more efficiently are operations resumed in the 1940s and
in the next millennium
now becoming available under the buy- have continued, without interruption, to
back scheme. Gas projects will take the present day.
priority, with gas production projected to In Iran, technology transfer has taken
reach 300 Bcf/yr over the next five years. place through best-practice training and
This increased production will be used to the deployment of technologically
enhance oil recovery in declining onshore advanced equipment and techniques.
fields, for local industrial consumption, Many of the innovative and industry-
and for export. leading products and services familiar
In December 1998, President Khatami to engineers operating in the Gulf of
called for the modernization of Iran’s oil Mexico or the North Sea, are being
industry and the discovery of new fields. used to locate and bring Iranian oil
In January 1999, Khatami approved a fields into production quickly, safely
plan to restructure the industry, Figure 5.6: Masjid-i-Sulaiman, the birthplace of modern, and cost-effectively.
including decentralization and the oilfield-development methods. This field was described in 1928 Oilfield service companies are being
separation of policy from executive as “the most efficiently developed oil pool in the world” encouraged to forge close partnerships
with the NIOC. These partnerships cover Figure 5.7: This resistivity log from exploration
the installation and operation of data well Laleh-1 was recorded in the 1930s by
History

History
Marcel and Conrad Schlumberger and is the
country’s oldest surviving well log
40 Middle East Reservoir Review Middle East Reservoir Review 41
100
based on extensive history matching field. South Pars was first identified in Figure 5.9: Iran’s
and detailed geological zonation studies, 1988 and originally appraised at daily oil production 90

Reserves (billion bbl)


helped engineers to understand fluid 128 Tcf in the early 1990s. However, and reserves
movements through the reservoir. NIOC-sponsored studies conducted in estimates. Modern 80
mid-1996 indicate that South Pars technology has
contains an estimated 240 Tcf, of helped to shape 70
Production enhancement which a large fraction will be Iran’s oilfield
60
The low permeability of some Iranian recoverable, and at least 3 billion development
reservoirs has made them prime barrels of condensate. program and ensured 50
candidates for stimulation and Iran’s other major nonassociated gas a steady increase in 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
fracturing. Integrated teams of specialist reserves include the offshore 47-Tcf oil production
geoscientists and engineers drawn from North Pars gas field (a separate 4000

Production (1000 bbl per day)


service companies work closely with structure from South Pars), the onshore 3500
NIOC technical staff to identify target Nar-Kangan fields, the 13-Tcf Aghar and 3000
wells for production enhancement. This Dalan fields in Fars province, and the
2500
synergy is also used to design, plan and Sarkhoun and Mand fields.
2000
steer wells and access undrained In 1996, Iran produced about 2.6 Tcf
1500
reservoir zones. of natural gas. Of this, 1.3 Tcf was
marketed, 1 Tcf reinjected, and 0.3 Tcf 1000
flared. In 1990, Iran began a gas 500
Counting on experience utilization program designed to boost 0
Access to the right support production to 10 Tcf per year by 2010, 1985 1990 1995 1998
infrastructure means that the Iranian oil reduce flaring, provide gas for EOR
industry can expect the highest levels of reinjection programs, and allow for Tehran
oilfield performance from service increased gas exports abroad. Gas field
Alborz
companies. Recent projects carried out Oil field
Sarajeh
for NIOC include the drilling of
horizontal wells and assistance with
Technology in action Gas pipeline
Oil pipeline
major geophysical surveys. New techniques for the development
Horizontal wells are crucial for the and management of oil and gas fields International border
effective development of many Iranian are helping Iranian geoscientists and Chia
Surkh
oil and gas reservoirs. The pace of engineers to optimize their resource
Naft Emmam Hassan
Sarkan
reservoir development in modern Iran management strategies. Improved Khaneh Veyzenhar
Maleh Kuh
means that Schlumberger has been understanding of reservoir architecture, Tang Bijar Kabir Kuh Kabud Qaleh Nar
Halush Lab-E-Safid
asked to support the drilling of petrophysical characteristics and flow Dehluran Danan Lali
horizontal wells on up to four rigs paths allows reservoir managers to Chashmeh Par-I-Siah
Abu Ghuraib Khush Zeldi
simultaneously, and provide state-of-the- achieve an optimum balance between Paydar Ramin Masjed Soleyman
Naft-Safid
art well plans, surveys and anti-collision production rates and total recovery Mushtag Haft Kol Shurom
Ahwaz Paris
calculations to ensure their success. rates. The pioneering geophysicists of
Offshore geophysical surveys are the 1920s laid the foundations for Gachsaran
Ab Tevmur
helping to identify new oil and gas recent developments such as advanced
accumulations and to delineate existing borehole geophysics and 3D and 4D Darquain
Sarvestan
fields. Geco-Prakla currently provides seismic surveys.
Nargesi
training in survey acquisition and Modern oilfield technology has Nowruz Aghar
Abuzar Bushgan
processing techniques for the crew of the helped Iran to open its oil and gas Dorouti Bandubast Namaki
Sorosh Dalan
NIOC Pejwak (formerly the Geco Echo). fields and establish huge reserves
Esfandiar
(Figure 5.9). The challenges BB Kuh-I-Mand Gavarzin
Foroozan Nar
encountered in those fields and the Marjan Varavi
Gas - a natural development problems solved by Iranian engineers
FA Pars Kangan
Assaluyeh Lamard Henjam
Salakh
The W Bukha Bukha
Iran contains an estimated 812 Tcf of have, in turn, helped to shape oilfield Gul Saleh
Iran f
natural gas – the world’s second largest methods and to rewrite the rules of BH Baih

reserves after Russia (Figure 5.8). The exploration and development.


bulk of these Iranian gas reserves are The oil and gas fields of Iran
located in nonassociated fields.
However, large onshore oil fields contain
approximately 120 Tcf of associated gas,
dissolved in crude oil or in gas caps.
Iran’s largest nonassociated gas
accumulation is the South Pars field –
an extension of Qatar’s 241-Tcf North
History

History
42 Middle East Reservoir Review Middle East Reservoir Review 43

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