He said current level of oil extraction from North Azadegan field has reached 75,000 bpd and the total crude production from the field has exceeded 11 million barrels per day.

The project for development of North Azadegan joint field is implemented in two phases, each with the capacity to produce 75,000 bpd oil, said Behbahani, adding that once they are operational, crude extraction from North Azadegan field will reach 150,000 bpd in all.

The international wing of the CNPCI of China is the contractor to phase one of the project for development of North Azadegan field on buy-back contract. Based on the initial contract, the second phase of the project for development of the field will also be ceded to the CNPCI if the early contract to that effect is signed between the company and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Behbahani said talks continue with the CNPCI for development of the second phase. “Major portion of talks focus on studies on the territorial aspect of the field, volume of in-situ reserves and amount of extraction in the second phase.

The initial studies on the phase two, conducted by the Petroleum Engineering and Development (PEDEC), show that volume of final reserves of the field stands at about 6.3 billion barrels.

Operator of the project for development of North Azadegan field said undoubtedly, the condition for cooperation in the second phase will be different due to the post-JCPOA conditions.

“Hence, we expect the cost of implementing the project will reduce and access to the latest technology will be easy and even we will use new technologies if necessary.”

Behbahani stressed that foreign contractors are committed to cooperation with Iranian companies to develop Iranian joint oil fields.

North Azadegan oil field is part of Azadegan oil field, lying about 120 kms west of Ahvaz west of Karoon river on the Iran-Iraq border line southwest of Iran.