The Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) is in talks with some renowned European companies for making joint venture in offshore projects, the IOEC managing director Abolqasem Rahmani told the Tehran Times in an exclusive interview on Monday.

“We need to improve our sites, yards and also our machinery. Therefore, we should make joint venture with some foreign companies to do so,” the official mentioned.

He also said that his company is one of the largest companies in the world in terms of offshore equipment, machinery and vessels as well as manpower, noting that there are a few companies with such capabilities.

“There is no offshore company in the Middle East with a crane vessel capable of loading platforms weighing up to 4,500-5,000 tons, as we have,” the IOEC’s managing director highlighted.

“We are also capable of laying about 2.5 kilometers of subsea pipes per day,” he added.

‘Offshore industry’s great progress during sanctions’

Iran’s offshore industry has experienced great progress over the past 10-12 years especially during the sanctions time, Rahmani said on Monday.

He made the remarks in a press conference which was held in the headquarters of IOEC for briefing on Iran’s recent technological achievements in the offshore industry.

“We have become so strong that now we can load two 3,000-ton offshore platforms and install them in their designated spots during ten days,” the official noted.

‘Achieving deep-water seismological data analysis tech.’

Addressing the same conference, Seyed Saleh Hendi, the director for exploration in the National Iranian Oil Company, announced that Iran has achieved the technology of seismological data analysis for oil and gas exploration in deep waters.

He said that there are a limited number of companies in the world that have such technology and they conduct related study and analysis for other companies at a very high cost.

The  official also noted, “We don’t expect any more discovery of large reserves such as Azadegan oil field [shared with Iraq] and South Pars gas field [shared with Qatar in the Persian Gulf], while we should explore smaller deposits which is now one of our prioritized plans.”

 ‘5 offshore platforms to be installed by Mar. 2017’

Mohammadreza Bahari, the deputy managing director of IOEC for offshore affairs, for his part announced that five offshore platforms are scheduled to be installed by the company by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017).

He said, “We have already 27 vessels operating in the country’s waters, although we have the record of 35 vessels.”

Stressing that deep-water operation is atop agenda, the official stated, “We should move more toward exploring in the waters with the depth of up to 800-1000 meters both in terms of digging and pipe laying.”

MA/MG