Feasibility report submitted for oil discovery in Iran

New Delhi: After receiving approval for the commercial viability of natural gas production from the Farsi block in Iran, the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, ONGC Videsh (OVL), has now submitted a feasibility report for the oil discovery it made in the block two years ago.

OVL, which holds 40 per cent interest in the 3,500 sq km offshore block, found oil in the BB structure in 2006 when it drilled three wells, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel told the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question today.

Though Patel did not state the oil reserves OVL had discovered in Farsi, officials said the discovery may hold about a billion barrels of inplace oil reserves. “The feasibility report of the field has been submitted to National Iranian Oil Company, Iran, on November 26, 2008.”

Indian Oil Corporation holds 40 per cent stake in the block, while the remaining 20 per cent is held by Oil India Ltd.

Iran had in September approved the commercial viability of natural gas production from the same Farsi block and the consortium of Indian firms were preparing a plan to developing the gas find that may cost over $3 billion. Tehran is likely to decide by mid-2009 on awarding the development rights for the field to Indian firms.

The Indian firms had submitted a gas commerciality report to the Iranian authorities last December, and would invest about $3 billion to develop the gas field if Tehran gives the go-ahead.