TEHRAN An official in charge of the Salman oil rig in southern Iran said Saturday that the rig has been rehabilitated and resumed operation with the help of Iranian experts and in the absence of foreigners.

Mohammad-Ali Rahimiyeh told reporters that the Salman oil rig, 140km south of the Lavan Island, was destroyed twice by Iraq and the U.S. in the course of the eight-year sacred defense (1980-88). But, he added, Iranian skilled experts put it into operation in 1982.

The oil output of the giant Salman oil field, in southern Persian Gulf waters which is jointly shared by the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) was 80,000 barrels of crude per day. The figure now stands at 105,000 bpd following the development of the field.

On the basis of the development plan, Salman oil field is to increase production to 130,000 bpd in three years, head of Lavan oil-rich region Mahmoud Farman-Ara told reporters on Friday.

There are 42 oil wells in the region in addition to another 10 wells drilled for the injection of water.

According to Rahimiyeh, repair works in the past used to be conducted by foreign experts and maintenance operations were performed by the Iranians.

At the moment, he added, all major repair operations and maintenance of the equipment is being done by the Iranian experts.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed a buyback deal with Petroiran oil firm to contribute to the development of Salman oil field which started last August.

Iran last Wednesday announced the discovery of a major oil deposit containing around 26 billion barrels in the Persian Gulf waters off Abadan, Khuzestan Province in south of Iran. The oil was found in shallow Iranian-held waters in the Dasht-e Abadan zone.

It also announced the discovery of a natural gas deposit containing an estimated 40 billion cubic meters (1.4 trillion cubic feet) at Ramhormoz, also in Khuzestan Province which borders Iraq.

Iran, the second-largest oil producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after Saudi Arabia, gets around 85 percent of its hard-currency earnings from oil exports and the government has been pushing to reduce dependence on petroleum. Iran has taken in around 20 billion dollars in oil revenues in the current year.

The country has already signed over six billion dollars in deals with foreign companies for the purpose and still more could be in the making. In the meantime, according to the Persian daily ***** Iran *****, oil production is expected to go up by some 150,000 bpd when a three-year project to develop three oil fields in the Persian Gulf is completed.

Farman-Ara, as saying total production capacity of the three oil fields of Salman, Resalat and Balal could add 240,000 barrels each day to the country's current output.

The development of the Salman field, one of the largest in the Persian Gulf with a projected capacity of 80,000 bpd, has been awarded to the Iranian company Petroiran under an 800-million-dollar buyback deal, the paper quoted him as saying.

The total production capacity of the (Salman) field is expected to reach 130,000 bpd after the execution of this plan, Farman-Ara said, adding some 500 million cubic feet of gas will also be extracted. Gas extracted from this field will be transferred to Assaluyeh port through a 240-kilometer pipeline which is currently under construction.

Some 70,000 barrels of oil will be produced per day in Resalat and Reshadat oil fields, up from the 10,000 barrels currently being produced, once they are developed under other projects, he said, as quoted by Iran.

He was further quoted as saying that after the Balal oil field, currently being developed by the French giant Elf under also a buyback deal, starts operating some 40,000 barrels of oil will be produced each day, and that the project is continuing with a 9-percent progress.

(IRNA)