The Kharg Oil Terminal is one of Iran's Oil exports terminals where the Kharg operational center is located.

IOOC is among leading offshore Oil and gas production companies in Iran. It operates development and production at Oil and gas fields located in the Kharg, Bahregan, Siri, Lavan, Kish and Qeshm operational centers. The Kharg center is of paramount significance as it houses the Abuzar, Dorood and Foroozan fields. The Kharg center accounts for half of IOOC Oil Output. The Oil exported from this area with API gravity of 34 and 35 is known under Foroozan brand.

Production Capacity

Rajabkhani touched on such operations as workover of wells, lifting and drilling new oils, saying production from this area had increased in the first half of the current Iranian year.

He added that the Foroozan Output is expected to increase by the end of the current calendar year on March 20.

Regarding the quality of produced Oil at this area, he said: "The Oil currently being exported from Dorood-3 is of high quality and needs no processing."

Furthermore, he added, the activation of DCS-based monitoring system on the Foroozan and Dorood-3 platforms has helped enhance the quality of Oil produced by these fields and practically Oil flow has not stopped.

Rajabkhani touched on the Foroozan Oil Output, saying: "Since Saudi Arabia's share of this jointly owned field is higher than Iran's, it will naturally recover more Oil. Therefore, given its share, Iran is not lagging behind."

Foroozan is located 100 kilometers southeast of Kharg Island. It is known as Marjan in Saudi Arabia.

In Iran's segment of the field, Oil is being transferred via a subsea pipeline, measuring 20 inches in diameter, to onshore facilities for processing and storage.

Oil Pits Gathering

Rajabkhani said gathering Oil pits has been among environmental projects under way in the Kharg area.

The project was implemented with a view to purifying industrial wastes, he said, adding that industrial wastes used to deposit in Oil pits.

"But now it is possible to separate Oil and water from the wastes," said Rajabkhani.

"After separation and the flow of pure water into the sea, the Oil in the pit will be evacuated and the sludge remaining there will be auctioned off to be used in such projects as bitumen," he said.

"There have been drilled some wells in underground layers to absorb water accumulated on the platforms. That would help avoid water wastage and we can restore water to the storage tank," he added.

Rajabkhani said that the first well in the Abuzar field had been drilled, while more wells are coming online over the coming two to three years.

Kharg Island is located 57 kilometers northwest of Bushehr and 28 kilometers from Genaveh Port. The island is among the most important Oil export terminals in Iran. Another advantage with this area is the location of the Abuzar, Dorood and Foroozan Oil fields. About 270 wells have so far been drilled there, 65 of which are producing Oil.

In a bid to improve the quality of its export Oil service, IOOC has implemented certain procedural reforms there, including the quality of Oil exported form Dorood-3.

Oil production from Abuzar is not easy due to tar sands. The existence of tar sand in Oil will damage Oil installations, thereby affecting production. Any loss in production would impose hundreds of thousands of dollars on the operating company.

The small size of pebbles in the Abuzar Oil field causes them to enter the well stream, causing corrosion of pipes and valves.

To resolve this problem, the sand management technology has been employed because using this tool in Iran has become indigenized.

Sand management is an operating concept in which traditional sand control means are not normally applied and production is managed through monitoring and control of well pressures, fluid rates and sand influx. Sand management has proven to be an effective tool in North Sea Oil and gas production wells.

Sand management has proven to be workable, and has led to the generation of highly favorable well skins because of self-cleanup associated with the episodic sand bursts that take place. These low skins have, in turn, led to higher productivity indexes, and each of the wells where sand management has been successful has displayed increased Oil or gas production rates.

After certain procedures, the quality of Oil produced by Dorood is being delivered to export terminals.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum

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