Iran plans to boost exploration in border areas, ministry says

Bloomberg: Iran plans to set up four drilling platforms in border regions to accelerate oil exploration, the Oil Ministry said on its news website Shana, citing Mahmoud Mohaddes, National Iranian Oil Co. director for exploration.

By Ladane Nasseri

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Iran plans to set up four drilling platforms in border regions to accelerate oil exploration, the Oil Ministry said on its news website Shana, citing Mahmoud Mohaddes, National Iranian Oil Co. director for exploration.

The platforms will be installed within two months near the northeast border with Turkmenistan and on the western border with Iraq, Shana said. Kalat, Bojnourd, Daregaz and Kermanshah have been given priority for exploration, the website said.

Iran’s Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi last week said that more than $1.5 billion have been allocated to explore for oil and gas, Shana reported.

Iran has discovered 13 new oil and gas fields with combined reserves of 14 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas within the past year, the Oil Ministry said last month. The country has $69.1 billion in revenue from oil exports in the past year, according to the ministry.