Iran Strikes New Azadegan Oil Find

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has discovered a new oil layer holding a potential 2.2 billion barrels of oil in the Azadegan oil field

National Iranian Oil Company's (NIOC) director for exploration, Mahmoud Mohaddes, said that the new layer was discovered during drilling of the seventh exploration well at the field. 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 NIOC. Russia's Lukoil and India's Reliance Industries are currently in talks to buy stakes in the field. Lukoil entered talks after the collapse of a previous bid to develop the field by a joint venture of Japan's Inpex and the state-run oil firm in October 2006. Reliance is thought to have started negotiations in late 2007.