MNA � The Exploration Department of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed four research contracts with universities and knowledge-based firms.

The deals, signed at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, on Sunday, concerned studies in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, unconventional hydrocarbon resources and drilling fluids:

1. The Project of Quantitative Seismic Cube Interpretation (QI) in the south of Abadan Plain was signed between Seyyed Saleh Hendi, Director of Exploration at the National Iranian Oil Company, and Ahmad Reza Bahrami, Vice Chancellor of Research and Technology at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

The 15-month contract has been signed with goals such as localization of state-of-the-art techniques in quantitative studies and reservoir characterization.

2. The second contract concerned phase II of a project to transfer technical knowhow and technology for exploration of oil shales in the Qali Kuh region in the western province of ??Lorestan. The deal was signed by Saleh Hendi and Reza Soltani, Head of the Campus of Technical Faculties of Tehran University.

The contract is set to run for 48 months, and a European technical university with more than 90 years of experience in the oil shale industry is set to collaborate as an international consultant and partner in the project. The project will provide a basis for the development of a new oil shale industry in Iran by developing a comprehensive exploration plan.

3. The third contract was on geochemical assessment and study of hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Dehram Group (located in the middle part of the coastal Fars region). Hendi and Mansour Ghorbani, Managing Director of Pars Knowledge-based Co. signed the deal. A European university will be the international partner and advisor of the 18-month project. This study can more accurately assess the probability of hydrocarbon sources in the lower depths of the Dehram reservoir.

4. The last contract was focused on field implementation of 10,000 barrels of high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) hydraulic deep drilling fluid for wells to replace oily base fluid. Hendi and Soltani signed this 18-month contract as well.