Iran finds ‘very light and sweet’ oil in Abadan for first time

Tehran:- Iran has discovered a new oilfield containing unspecified reserves of "very light and sweet" crude in the southwestern Khuzestan province, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said on Wednesday.

The discovery on Minoo Island is the first ever oil find in the general area of Abadan which is home to Iran's largest and oldest oil processing facility.  

"Yesterday at 10 o'clock in the morning, a well being drilled on Mino Island reached oil. This is the first time we discover oil in the Abadan area," Zangeneh told reporters after a cabinet session.

"We have a lot of hope to discover (more) oil in the Abadan area and this grade discovered at a depth of 3,770 meters has an API gravity of 40 which is very light and sweet," he added.

Zangeneh said drilling will continue to estimate the total volume of the reservoir and the possibility of production.

Iran has also to determine whether it is an independent resource or an extension of an Iraqi oilfield currently producing on the other side of the border.

Last month, a senior official said Iran was scouring 60 percent of its total area for new oil and gas reserves, including in places which were deemed until recently the least likely to have hydrocarbon-bearing formations.

A senior official says preliminary studies show the existence of oil reservoirs in East Azarbaijan Province in northwest Iran.

Iran's oil sector is facing US sanctions imposed in November, including a pledge by President Donald Trump to bring the country's oil exports down to zero. 

Trump has backtracked on that pledge, giving an 180-day waiver to eight customers of Iranian oil and is likely to extend it, according to analysts. 

"About the extension of the waiver for Iran's oil sales to some customers by the United States, we have to wait and see," Zangeneh said.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran cannot be shut out of global energy markets because of its vast oil and gas reserves.

"With regard to oil issues, luckily we are pursuing various paths and roads for selling oil and we bypass American sanctions with pride," Rouhani said. 

The sanctions, however, are believed to have led to a decline in Iran's oil sales, with Zangeneh refusing on Wednesday to say how many barrels are lost. 

"I am not saying anything about the amount of Iranian oil production and exports, because talking about these issues will give America a signal for more sanctions," he said.