Tehran, Nov 11 - Iran has put on international tender a projec for daily extraction of 700 million cubic feet of gas, extracted from oil wells, from the regions managed by National Iranian Continental Shelf Oil Company. Managing Director of National Iranian Continental Shelf Oil Company (NICSOC) Abolghasem Hassani told IRNA here on Monday that studies on the project has been completed and tender has been held for selection of the contractor. Hassani said his company had been authorized by the Majlis last year to implement the project at a cost of dlrs two billion to be financed from domestic sources. He said the project would yield 600 million cubic feet of gas per day extracted along with oil in Behregan and Kharg fields and 100 million cubic feet of gas extracted in Sirri field. He added that the project, for extraction of 50 million cubic feet of such gases a day from Lavan field, has not been included in the project. Part of the extracted gases would be injected to oil fields and the remaining portion would be dedicated for domestic consumption, said Hassani, adding that liquefied gas (LG) too would be exported. Once the project for collection of the gases emitted with oil comes on stream, the entire part of the continental shelf would be deflaired of such gases, said the official. The project would earn the country one million dollars a day, he added. The source said that documents have been drafted for international tender of the project for development of Reshadat oilfield to raise oil production to 85,000 barrels a day from 5,000 barrels a day at a cost of dlrs 350 million. He said a comprehensive project for development of Reshadat field has been carried out by British Coroner and John Brown companies. He stressed that foreign companies are interested in entering joint partnership with Iranian companies to implement the project. He added that pilot studies have been conducted by the International Energy Studies Institution for development of Reshadat oilfield and trigonomic seismographic analysis project is in the state of implementation and is expected to be complete in the coming months. Hassani said studies for development of Resalat field have not yet begun but charter plan to that effect is in stage of compilation. He said if the project goes on stream, oil production from Resalat oilfield would rise to 50,000 barrels a day from 8,000 barrels a day at a cost of dlrs 250 million. Hassani said a contract, signed with Iran's Engineering and Marine Installation Construction Company for development of Behregansar oilfield, is in effect after a short delay. Drilling operations in the field are complete and full implementation of development project there is expected to increase oil production from Behregansar field to 65,000 barrels a day from 22,000 barrels a day. The official said operation for oil extraction from Sorush oilfield has started for about one year and 60,000 barrels of crude oil are obtained from three wells in Sorush field a day. Production of oil from Sorush oilfield last year earned the country a revenue of more than 400 million dollars, said Hassani, adding that production of oil from Sorush and Noruz oil fields would reach 190,000 barrels a day by end of the first half of next year (to start on March 21, 2003), fetching the country dlrs 1.3 billion a year. The Iranian official said that project for drilling a well in Balal field is complete and early oil intake from the field is expected to stand at 40,000 barrels a day from January. He said Sirri dock, damaged during the eight-year Iraqi imposed war, is in process of reconstruction by the NICSOC officials and a foreign company at a cost of less than dlrs 10 million. The dock operates with 30,000 tons capacity and it would turn into a standard export dock once operations for its reconstruction are completed, he concluded.

(from www.irna.com).