A NEW rig, Iran Alborz, has started work in the Caspian. It is Iranian-built and has now started work on a well in the Iranian sector. Hedayatollah Khademi, managing director of the rig’s owner, North Drilling, has been reported as saying this is the first of three wells scheduled to be drilled this year.
The maiden well is being drilled on the aptly named Alborz acreage (block 6), where China Oilfield Services Ltd (COSL) has the contract to drill. Alborz straddles the boundary between Iraq and Azerbaijan. Alborz is the largest of the eight blocks delineated in the Iranian Caspian. The reserves estimate is about 20billion barrels oil equivalent. It is suggested that the Iranian sector may harbour more than 30billion barrels, with the bulk thought to lie in the Alborz and neighbouring Chalous blocks.
According to the Iranians, the Noor and Rooyan blocks may hold 2.5billion barrels each; Ramsar, 1.5billion; nearshore block 8, 1.4billion; block 7, 900million, and Roudsar block, 500million.
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