Third Hengam jacket en route to Persian Gulf

July 11, 2011
Offshore installations are progressing for the Hengam oil field development in the Hormoz Strait in the Persian Gulf.

Offshore staff

TEHRAN, Iran -- Offshore installations are progressing for the Hengam oil field development in the Hormoz Strait in the Persian Gulf.

Mahmood Zirakchianzade, managing director of National Iranian Offshore Oil Co. (NIOOC), told Iranian news service Shana that Hengam’s second platform jacket was in place. At 85 m (279 ft), he added, it was also the tallest jacket installed to date in the Persian Gulf.

The third jacket is being transported to the field and should be installed soon.

Hengam is currently producing 23,000 b/d of oil, with a fourth well due to be drilled from the second jacket structure, eventually boosting output to 30,000 b/d.

Production is exported via a 70-km (43-mi) pipeline to the Bandar Abbas refinery.

The Hengam field is 24 km (15 mi) long and 12 km (7.5 mi) wide, with 80% in Iranian waters and the remaining 20% offshore the Sultanate of Oman.

Earlier, Zirakchianzade told Shana NIOOC expected to sign development contracts over the next eight months for the Farzad B and Forouz A and B gas fields, all close to Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.

One of NIOOC’s targets, he added, was to produce 10 bcf/d from Farzad A and B, and other offshore fields Balal, Kish, Lavan, and Reshadat by 2015.

Another Iranian official – Javad Oji, managing director of National Iranian Gas Co. – told Shana that the country’s overland IGAT-7 gas trunkline has been extended to the city of Iranshahr.

Future plans call for further extensions towards Iran’s border with Pakistan, where a subsea branch will be laid, allowing Iran to export gas to Oman.

07/11/2011