TEHRAN — A third new offshore drilling rig has entered Iranian territorial waters under the current administration, raising the number of rigs deployed on Pars Oil and Gas Co. projects to 13, the company’s CEO said.
Touraj Dehqani told the Oil Ministry’s news agency, Shana, that the rig’s arrival followed months of continuous effort and successfully overcoming technical, contractual, financial, banking, insurance, maritime and international obstacles.
Referring to conditions in the country and the region in recent months, he said only about two months passed between securing the rig and its arrival in Iranian waters. An operation of this scale and complexity requires extensive coordination among technical, financial, contractual, maritime, logistics and international teams even in normal circumstances, he said.
Dehqani thanked the oil minister for his persistent follow-up and firm support. He said backing from the minister, the CEO and board of the National Iranian Oil Co., and others involved at various stages helped speed the rig’s transfer and deployment.
He said the rig will strengthen the drilling fleet’s operational capacity and support Pars Oil and Gas’s plans to sustain production. He said the operation took place while Iran faced sanctions, difficulties transferring funds, banking restrictions, complications with insurance and international shipping, and security conditions in the region following two imposed wars.
Despite those constraints, he said, the procurement and transfer process never stopped, and coordination among various departments carried the project through to the rig’s arrival.
Dehqani said strengthening the drilling fleet is a requirement for continued development and production maintenance at shared fields. The new rig is the third the company has brought in from abroad under its fleet expansion program, he said, adding that its modern technology increases capacity for drilling gas projects in the Persian Gulf.
Along with the existing active rigs, the new one will increase the company’s capacity to carry out drilling, develop wells, maintain production at South Pars and pursue projects at shared Persian Gulf gas fields, he said.
Dehqani said up-to-date equipment suited to technical requirements is important in offshore drilling because it improves productivity, shortens operations and allows drilling programs to be carried out safely and effectively. Procuring modern rigs is part of the company’s approach to meeting the operational needs of shared fields, he said.
The number of rigs on Pars Oil and Gas projects has grown from four at the start of the current administration to 13, including three new offshore rigs that have entered Iranian waters, he said. More active rigs in offshore fields mean more capacity to carry out drilling plans, speed up development work and manage multiple projects at once in the Persian Gulf, he said.