TEHRAN (PIN) –- The National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) managing director Seifollah Jashnsaz said here on Thursday that the Azadegan oilfield would be come on stream on February 9 during a ceremony in presence of The Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari and some other senior officials of the country.

Azadegan oilfield, the largest oil reserve of the world explored within the past 30 years, is located 80km west of Ahvaz, the capital city of Khuzestan Province, with a proven 33 billion barrel deposit of oil.
“The project is highly complicated in terms of engineering operations,” he said adding that about 350km length of pipelines with 10, 14, and 16 inch in diameter had been laid in the past six months.
Jashnsaz said six wells had been concurrently repaired and two gas separation units had been also put into operation within the period.
The official pointed to the completion of the first phase of Azadegan oilfield with a daily production capacity of 150 thousand barrels of crude oil and added the experts of NIOC had enough experience and knowledge to develop the oilfield.
A unit with the capacity of refining some 150 thousand barrels of crude oil per day and a separate desalination plant with a daily capacity of 55 thousand barrels would be built.
The NISOC managing director said “It is estimated that the seven wells of the oilfield to produce 25 thousand barrels of oil per day.”
The official added the experts of NISOC and Petroiran Co. were outlining a plan on the second stage of production in an attempt to lift Azadegan’s output to 50 thousand barrels a day.
“To this end, the setting up of an independent exploitation plant and a desalination unit, drilling of 12 wells in Azadegan oilfield, and the laying of 130 kilometers of 24 inch pipeline extending from the region to Ahvaz have been planned,” he noted.