TEHRAN, Sept 18 (Shana) � The second phase of North Azadegan field will be developed stepwise.

Operator of the project for development of North Azadegan field Keramat Behbahani told Shana that eventual reserves of the field is about 6.3 billion barrels and once the first stage of the development of the second phase of the field is complete, daily production of 25,000 bpd oil is on agenda.

National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) quotes Behbahani as saying that talks were held with Chinese CNPCI company for enforcement of the second phase of the development project and the Chinese company should offer its bid to the NIOC for enforcement of the phase.

The project for development of North Azadegan field is expected to yield 75,000 bpd oil in each of two phases and �once the two phases are complete, its total capacity will amount to 150,000 bpd. Now, the first phase of the project is underway and Iran extracts 75,000 bpd from the joint field.

Chinese CNPCI company is contractor for the first phase of North Azadegan field on a buy-back contract. Based on the initial contract, in case of agreement between the NIOC and the CNPCI, the second phase of the project for development of the field will be entrusted to the Chinese company.

Behbahani said talks still go on with the Chinese. "Development of the field in the second phase will be in phases based on the latest changes made in the master plan for development of the field and in the first stage of the second phase, 25,000 bpd crude output will be on agenda."

He said initial studies on the second phase, carried out by the Petroleum Engineering and Development Company (PEDEC), show final reserve volume at about 6.3 billion barrels. Regarding possibility of more reserves, the in-situ oil in the field is estimated to be up to seven billion barrels and on this basis, target production in the second phase of development of the joint field will change."

By SHANA