Experts differ on Iran`s oil and gas opportunities in Caspian Sea
Iran has announced launching of oil and gas production operations in its sector of the resource-rich Caspian Sea.
Iranian oil minister Rostam Qasemi said recently that the first oil torch will soon be sparked on the Amir Kabir platform (Alborz).
However, in an interview with the German broadcasting company Deutsche Welle (DW), analysts expressed divergent opinions on Iran`s oil and gas extraction opportunities in the Caspian.
While saying that the Alborz platform is semi-submersible, Trend Persian news service head Dalga Khatinoglu emphasized that such platforms are used in field exploration. He said stationary platforms are required for oil and gas extraction, and it was surprising that Iran produces oil or gas using this platform.
Rostam Qasemi had said that a field with gas reserves amounting to 50 trillion cubic feet (more than 1.4 trillion cubic meters) and oil reserves of 10 billion barrels was discovered in the Iranian sector of the Caspian Sea in December 2011. The deposit, called Sardar Milli, is located 188 kilometers to the north of the coast of Gilan province and 250 kilometers north-west of the Neka port.
According to incoming data, the new field is ten times larger than the Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan -- which holds 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, Qasemi said.
Earlier, Iran carried out unsuccessful exploration work in various sectors of the Caspian from the Amir Kabir platform seven times.
Khatinoglu said several wells with a depth of over 7,000 meters had been drilled to conduct exploration at the Shah Deniz field. Thus, by drilling a well with a depth of 700 meters, it is impossible to determine potential reserves of the field.
The platforms, as well as the infrastructure for their production, transportation, construction of underwater gas pipelines, research and other work, are required for oil and gas extraction at sea, he said, adding that Iran lacks such infrastructure.
In an interview with DW, a Turkmen oil and gas ministry official who asked not to be named said that, for instance, Ashgabat had discovered gas reservoirs in the Caspian Sea at a depth of 4,000 meters. Therefore, some experts doubt that Iran could discover a field at a depth of 700 meters.