Iran Restarts Offshore Oil Exploration in Caspian Sea after 3 Decades
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian oil minister issued a directive on Friday on petroleum exploration in the Caspian Sea after a nearly 30-year hiatus.
The drilling process for oil in the Caspian Sea waters near the northern coasts of Iran began on Friday upon an order issued by Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad.
The minister issued the directive during a visit to the 29th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition of Iran in Tehran.
The offshore drilling for extracting petroleum started by setting up a rig site at a shallow section of the Caspian Sea with a depth of 70 meters.
North Drilling Company has undertaken the offshore project at an area near Rudsar in the northern province of Gilan.
The exploratory drilling operation is aimed at evaluating the oil reserves at an ultimate depth of 5,077 meters.
The first drilling for oil in the Caspian Sea began 28 years ago.
A drilling project in the deep parts of the Caspian Sea came to a halt 11 years ago.
The Oil Ministry has now restarted the oil exploration activities in the Caspian Sea after repairs to ‘Iran-Amirkabir’ semi-submersible platform.
