Iran discovers major shale oil reserves in western province

TEHRAN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran has discovered major reserves of shale oil in western Lorestan province, an Iranian energy official was quoted as saying by Press TV on Sunday.

The reserves are estimated to hold as much as two billion barrels of light in-situ shale oil which is potentially producible for industrial use, Bahman Soleimani, the deputy director of the exploration department of the National Iranian Oil Company, said.

Seismic studies are also underway for shale gas reserves in the same area, which are expected to be completed by October, said Soleimani.

In 2015, Iran announced the discovery of another shale oil reserves in Lorestan, but no figure was provided as for its capacity.

According to the official figures, Iran is ranked fourth largest in the world with slightly over 150 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.