Iran discovers giant shale oil reserves in several regions

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says the country has discovered shale oil deposits in 10 different locations.

The director of exploration at the NIOC, Mehdi Fakour, announced that the company's specially designed model will enable the extraction of oil from these giant resources in Iran's provinces.

Fakour stated that in the previous Iranian calendar year (which ended March 19, 2024), more than 2.5 billion barrels of oil were added to Iran's crude oil and natural gas reserves with new exploration activities.

He added that the new discoveries will be announced by the oil minister soon.

Domestic companies possess significant potential for extracting oil shale resources, Fakour emphasized.

Furthermore, he announced the development of a unique and localized model in the country, which has yet to be adopted elsewhere globally.

The official went on to say that the extraction of shale oil in the United States costs approximately $40 per barrel. However, the new model implemented in Iran for shale oil production in western province of Lorestan will cost around $25 per barrel.

In 2017, Iran had discovered shale oil reserves amounting to 2 billion barrels in Lorestan.

Shale oil is unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution.

Iran is believed to have 158 billion barrels of established conventional oil reserves, the fourth largest in the world.

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