Addressing at a conference on development and exploitation mechanisms in upstream sector, Mr. Qasemi said: we have huge in place oil and gas reserves adding we can extract a larger amount of them by getting help from new techniques.  

‘If we assume in place oil reserves at 600 billion barrels by enhancing recovery rate by one percent we can extend oil extraction by another six years and if we improve recovery rate by 10 percent there is the possibility to extract oil for another sixty years’ minister of petroleum said.

He added improving recovery rate to 35 percent is an important issue adding the figure is common in other countries even though in some of them like Norway recovery rate exceeds 45 percent.

Stressing on necessity of changing traditional techniques of withdrawing oil and gas, the official said: traditional ways of oil and gas extraction, which have been used in past 100 years in Iran, should be improved in a way that guarantee recovery rate and preserve oil and gas reserves.