TEHRAN, March 16 (Shana) � The first working package contract for the field study project on enhanced recovery at the Sorush oil field was signed between Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) and the Tabriz-based Sahand Technical University.

IOOC Managing Director Saeid Hafezi and Sahand University President Rasoul Azari Khosroshahi signed the contract in a ceremony during which the university also signed a separate contract with the Dutch geoconsultant company PanTerra to function as its foreign partner.

�The field�s recovery is naturally 5 percent which after carrying out of IOR projects by using update technologies could rise to 10 to 15 percent which equals between 1 billion to 1.5 billion barrels of oil in addition to its natural output,� said Hafezi.

The technological development of five fields -- Sorush, Noruz, Dorud, Salman, and Frouzan -- under IOOC�s management is taking place within an agreement between the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and academic research centers last year which is scheduled to be completed in ten years, he added.

Sorush is the first field where the development will start, the IOOC chief said.

By SHANA