PNOC-EC ties up with Iran oil firm

MANILA, Philippines - State-owned PNOC Exploration Corp. has teamed up with an Iranian oil firm to explore possible investments in oil and gas prospects in the Middle East and in a refinery in Mindanao.

PNOC EC has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC). The signing was led by NIOC’s deputy head for development and engineering affairs Gholamreza Manouchehri and PNOC EC president Pedro Aquino Jr.

The MoU will cover the conduct of preliminary review, evaluation, assessment of several proposed projects in the Philippines and Iran.

These include investment for the development of Pazanan (oil and gas) fields and third phase of Darquain field to supply gas to the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction plant; investment for the construction of an LNG liquefaction plant in Iran; supply of oil as feedstock of the proposed refinery in Mindanao.

The Darquian oilfield is located 30 kilometers north of Khorramshahr and 100 kilometers south of Ahvaz, southern Iran. The field has a reservoir of about 3.6 billion barrels of in-place oil.

Meanwhile, Pazanan oil field is an Iranian oil and natural gas field that is located 170 kilometers south east of Ahvaz in Khuzestan province of Iran  and between Aghajari and Bibi Hakimeh fields. Being one of huge retrograde gas condensate reservoir in Iran, Pazanan oilfield is estimated to have a total proven reserves of around 50 trillion cubic feet and production is slated to be around 750 million cubic feet/day and around 31,000 barrels per day.

At home, PNOC EC is planning a refinery in Mindanao, which is projected to be built and put into operation within the next three years.

Last year, the company bared plans to study overseas oil and gas opportunities in Nigeria and Iran for long-term profitability.