The Rag Sefid oil field is an

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

located in

Khuzestan Province Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's R ...

, approximately 6 km in nearest distance from the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, southwest

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It was discovered in 1964 and developed by

National Iranian Oil Company The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC; ) is a government-owned national oil and natural gas producer and distributor under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran. NIOC was established in 1951 and restructured under The Consorti ...

and began production in 1966. The total

proven reserves Proven reserves (also called measured reserves, 1P, and reserves) is a measure of fossil fuel energy reserves, such as oil and gas reserves and coal reserves. It is defined as the "quantity of energy sources estimated with reasonable certaint ...

of the Rag Sefid oil field are around 14,5 billion barrels, and production is centered on . The field is owned by state-owned

(NIOC) and operated by

National Iranian South Oil Company The National Iranian South Oilfields Company (NISOC) (, ''Shirkat-e Mily-e Minatâq-e Nuftxiz-e Jinvâb-e Iran'') is a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, and operates as a subsidiary of Natio ...

(NISOC). On 29 October 2017, a blowout occurred in the offshore well 147 and burnt for 59 days before it was brought under control. Since it contains 54.16 tcf of natural gas (largest natural gas of the country after the Pazanan oil field), controlling this fire was considered a record. Two other fires affected the oil field in 1966 and 1975, and the intervention of American oil companies and 100 days had been necessary to contain those. The fire could have been contained more rapidly, but the challenge evolved around containing the gas that could have killed all living creatures in a large radius if released. Relief wells had to be drilled to engage in a bottom kill procedure.

References

Oil fields of Iran {{iran-stub

See also

References