New oil field in Iran's territorial waters

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) officials said that the new oil reserves were discovered by the Amir Kabir semi-submersible drilling rig in the course of exploration operations on Sardar-e Jangal gas field in the deep waters of the Caspian Sea. Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi is expected to give detailed information on the discovery of the new oil reserves in the Caspian Sea soon, press tv reported on Thursday. Early estimates have put the field's oil reserves at 8-10 billion barrels, though exploration activities are still underway. Qasemi announced the discovery of the huge Caspian gas field, which was later dubbed Sardar-e Jangal, on December 11, 2011, noting that the field contains 50 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. According to the NIOC officials, the new natural gas field is completely situated within Iran's territorial waters in the Caspian Sea and is not shared with any neighboring country. The discovery of the new gas field took place by drilling eight exploration wells in the deep waters of the Caspian Sea with the eighth well hitting huge gas reserves. Iran in October had started its first maritime patrol in the Southern coasts of the Caspian Sea to study the sea bed, seismology and identify oil routes. Geological Survey of Iran and the Oceanic and Atmospheric Science Center implemented the project by a research vessel. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. Caspian Sea littoral states consist of Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. They have been debating their share in the Caspian Sea legal regime since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.