Iran’s South Yaran Oilfield plans to drill 22 wells by March 2016, reported Trade Arabia, citing Mohammadreza Takayedi, deputy head of National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC).

He added that up to 60,000 b/d of crude oil is expected to be recovered from the field’s Sarvak layer once the wells are drilled.

He also said that drilling in South Azadegan and Yaran fields is 50% complete.

Takayedi added that NIDC is expected to see the number of its onshore and offshore drilling rigs exceed 70 in the year to mid-March.

In other news Press TV said that Iran has signed preliminary agreements with Korean, German and Chinese shipbuilders to construct high-tech LNG tankers.

“An MoU has been signed with a respectable German company which possesses the technology to build LNG tankers, with preliminary accords also reached with several South Korean and Chinese firms,” said Esmail Sadeqi, the man in charge of the project.

Iran has already prepared two dry docks in Bandar Abbas to design and build natural gas delivery vessels, Sadeqi added.

“The possibility of building LNG tankers and Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) exists in the country. Hence, we plan to pave the way for construction of LNG ships through cooperation with a foreign company.”

“Through transfer of technology, we can begin constructing LNG carriers which have a complex technology,” Sadeqi said.