Iran aims to boost southern oil production

TEHRAN, July 14 (UPI) -- Tehran aims to invest nearly $18 billion to produce as much as 3 million barrels per day from fields in the south of the country, an official said.

Mohsen Khojastemehr, a deputy official in the Iranian Oil Ministry, said the $18 billion in investments was part of a five-year redevelopment plan for his country.

"Many plans are being implemented to accelerate development of shared oil and gas fields while the ministry aims to increase oil production in the oil-rich region of the south to 3 million barrels a day," he told the Oil Ministry's Petroenergy Information Network, or SHANA.

He added the Iran's National Oil Co. and China's Sinopec aim to start production at the Yadavaran oil field in the south later this year. Production there should climb from around 20,000 bpd this year to 85,000 bpd within the next two years.

The official noted China is currently the biggest purchaser of Iranian crude oil. China National Petroleum Corp. has development plans for Iran's North Azadegan oil field and the South Pars gas complex in the Persian Gulf.

Around $3 billion of the $18 billion would be spent by March, the beginning of the Iranian year.