A senior Iranian oil official says a new oil layer with a capacity of 2.2 billion barrels has been discovered in the Azadegan oilfield.

""The new layer was discovered when the seventh exploration well was drilled in the Azadegan oilfield,"" Fars News Agency quoted Mahmud Mohaddes, the National Iranian Oil Company's director for exploration, as saying.
Iran is planning to develop another oil layer with a capacity of one billion barrels, which had been previously discovered in the Azadegan oilfield, he added.
The Azadegan oilfield, which is located 80 kilometers west of the southern Iranian city of Ahvaz in oil-rich Khuzestan Province, has proven oil reserves of 33 billion barrels, with good prospects for additional capacity, taking the total to 40 billion barrels.
The field is being developed by the PetroIran Development Company, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) after Iran's partnership with the Japanese firm Inpex came apart in 2006.
(Source: Press TV)