Iran’s Persia Oil and Gas Industry Development Co. signed a $463 million agreement with state-run National Iranian Oil Co. to operate and further develop Yaran oil field close to the border with Iraq in the southern Khuzestan Province.
The deal is expected to raise the field’s output by about 40 million barrels over a 10-year period, according to a video statement released by National Iranian Oil Co.
The project needs $227 million in direct investment and a further $236 million in additional operating costs. Persia Co. is required to raise the funds to develop the field, National Iranian said in the statement, without providing details.
Yaran, a deposit shared between Iran and Iraq, has an estimated 550 million barrels of oil in place and is divided into northern and southern sections in the Iranian territory.
The map shows south-western oil and gas fields in Iran.
"We will not surrender under any circumstances ... We have to increase our capacity so that when necessary with full strength we can enter the market and revive our market share," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in a televised speech Saturday.
Hit by reimposed US sanctions since Washington exited Iran's 2015 nuclear deal in 2018, Iran's oil exports are estimated at 100,000 to 200,000 barrels per day, down from more than 2.5 million bpd that Iran shipped in April 2018.
The Islamic Republic's crude production has halved to around 2 million bpd.
Iran has turned to domestic companies to develop its oil and gas projects after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.