Publications

Survey of Energy Resources 2007

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Country Notes

The first commercial crude oil discovered in Iran was at Masjid-i-Sulaiman in 1908. Further exploration in the next two decades resulted in the discovery of a number of major oil fields, including Agha Jari and Gach Saran. Fields such as these confirmed Iran in its role as a global player in the oil industry.
After many years as a major oil producer, the country's oil resources are still enormous: proved reserves, as reported for the present Survey by the Iranian WEC Member Committee, comprise 101.19 billion barrels of crude oil plus 36.30 billion barrels of NGLs. The total reported reserves of 137.49 billion barrels are almost identical to those quoted by BP and close to those given by other standard published sources (131.50-136.27). Approximately 11.5% of the proved reserves of crude and 54% of the NGLs are located offshore.
Iran was a founder member of OPEC in 1960. In 2005, about 60% of Iran's crude oil output of 3.9 million b/d was exported, mostly to Europe and Asia.