Halegan which measures 50 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide and holds 12.4 tcf or 355 bcm of gas in place is one of dozens of Iranian gas fields whose development was offered to foreign investors a couple of years ago at an international conference in Tehran. The field is located in Fars Province, more precisely 73 kilometers north of Assaluyeh and 25 kilometers south of the Sefid Baghoun gas field and north of the Sefid Zakhour and Dey gas fields.

Iran is implementing its gas consumption optimization projects in the household, business and industrial sectors while enhancing its gas production capacity in a bid to account for a 15% share of global gas trading.

Onshore fields, due to ease of access and need for not much investment, are favored by investors across the globe.

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) plans to establish a gas hub in the south of Fars Province. By developing the Sefid Zakhour, Sefid Baghoun, Dey, Halegan and several other gas fields, NIOC hopes to produce and treat gas.

Halegan was discovered in 2005 following a 2D seismic testing project conducted on 1,000 square kilometers in 2004 and 2005 in Fars Province. Halegan was among several gas fields discovered then in Fars.

With a 70% recovery rate, 8.938 tcf of gas may be recovered from Halegan. Such recovery rate in Iran is excellent. Halegan also contains 249 million barrels of gas condensate in place, 98 million barrels of which being recoverable.

Halegan Valued at $83bn

The gas and condensate held in the Halegan gas field is estimated to be valued at about $83 billion. That is while only $36 million has been spent for the discovery of this gas field over two and a half years. With the development of this gas field, it would be possible to produce 50 mcm/d of gas over 20 years.

Due to the toughness of land caused by the high-pressure layers of this field, exploration drilling operations were very slow at this field. Therefore, a 4,999-meter-deep well was planned to be drilled. Then, several reservoir layers - including Kangan, Upper Dalan, Naar and Lower Dalan were tested. Finally, the field was estimated to hold 12,400 bcf of gas. The important point about gas discovery in this field is that all geophysical, reservoir and petroleum engineering studies, as well as reservoir layer tests were conducted by the Exploration Directorate of NIOC.

Fars Province is one of gas hubs in the Middle East. Some exploration studies in this province are indicative of huge gas reserves. Halegan is the latest gas field in Fars Province. Compared with neighboring fields, Halegan has larger dimensions.

Iran would have to invest largely in its gas sector, should it be willing to possess the status it deserves among gas exporting countries. An oil market analyst has described Iran"s oil and gas industry as a golden opportunity for international oil companies.

The extension of Iran"s oil and gas facilities across the country requires widespread development activities. It needs new investment in addition to exploration activities. The current installations would need huge investment because of their decrepit conditions and the maturity of oil wells.

Among Iranian oil and gas fields, whose investment is estimated at $200 billion, the Halegan field is the most accessible to foreign investment.

Courtesy of Iran Petroleum