Iran has discovered a new oil field in southern part of the country. According to the reports the filed carries over 50 billion barrels of crude oil.
Importantly, the discovery would boost the country’s proven reserves by a third. Even than Iran struggles to sell energy abroad due to US sanctions.
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani break the news while the country is grappling with American sanctions. The United States of America imposed sanctions on Iran after they pulled out of its nuclear deal with world powers last year.
President Rouhani announced the news in a speech in the desert city of Yazd. Along with this he mentioned about its location. The field was located in Iran’s southern Khuzestan province, home to its crucial oil industry, he added.
The discovery of oil filed would add some 53 billion barrels to Iran’s proven reserves of roughly 150 billion, he said.
President Rouhani also mentioned about the US sanctions in a statement saying, the United States of America “sanctioned the sale of Iranian oil and pressured our nation”. Nevertheless, “the country’s dear workers and engineers were able to discover 53 billion barrels of oil in a big field.”
Currently, Iran holds world’s fourth-largest proven deposits of crude oil. In terms of world ranking, Iran has world’s second-largest deposits of natural gas. Significantly, it shares a massive offshore field with Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
The discovered oil field could potentially become Iran’s second-largest field. It is estimated that Iran already has one site which contains around 65 billion barrels in Ahvaz. The field in Ahvaz is 2,400 square kilometers (925 square miles), with the deposit some 80 meters (260 feet) deep, Rouhani mentioned.
The United States of America withdraw from nuclear deal 2015. Since then countries like Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China – have been struggling to save it. Nevertheless, they’ve made no proposal by which Iran can sell its oil abroad.