Tehran - Iran had made new discoveries of 1,07 billion barrels of oil and 800 billion cubic feet of gas, Mahmoud Mohaddes, the director of exploration at the National Iranian Oil Company, said yesterday.
Mohaddes said more reserves could be found after drilling a number of appraisal wells on the Changuleh field in western Ilam.
The new gas field, called Zireh, could produce 80 million cubic feet of gas a day. Zireh is located north of the Kangan gas field in the Gulf province of Bushehr.
Iran recently discovered a new onshore gas field, called Homa, with recoverable reserves of 133,1 billion cubic metres of sweet (unsulphurous) gas and 58 million barrels of gas liquids in southern Fars.
Earlier this year, it declared the discovery of the huge Azadegan field, near the border with Iraq, with estimated recoverable reserves of 5 to 6 billion barrels.
Mohaddes placed Iran's oil reserves at 520 billion barrels, up to 25 percent of which was recoverable. The figure could rise to 35 percent with greater investment and the use of new technology.
Mohaddes said Iran had boosted exploration activities, mainly in search of oil. "Such a level of exploration is unprecedented since the (1979) revolution."
Iran was yet to do exploration work in one sedimentary basin with an area of 950 000km2.
The country sought foreign investment to explore several potentially energy-rich areas and expected to tie up several contracts by March 2001.
It has an exploration deal with Norway's Norsk Hydro for the southwestern Anaran region near the Iraqi border. If Hydro finds oil it would have first crack at negotiating a development contract.
Iran had fully appraised the volume of oil and gas at the Arash field after drilling a 3 700m well.
Arash is an offshore field in the Gulf, claimed also by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
A dispute surfaced after Iran began drilling work on the field earlier this year. It later stopped the operation after completing work, and Iran and Kuwait were negotiating to settle the row.
Mohaddes, who is on a visit to Norway, said Iran's Foundation for the Deprived and War Disabled, a non-governmental charity organisation, had entered into a joint venture with a Norwegian firm to conduct seismic activities in the Gulf of Oman. He did not name the Norwegian company.