Balal is an offshore oil field located 100 km southwest of Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. It is located near the country’s maritime border with Qatar.

The oil from the field is piped to Lavan Island where the crude is blended with oil from the Salman field and then exported. It is estimated oil from the field is worth around US$25 per barrel, making the total value of the field at around US$3 billion.

Production began in February last year from two wells with an output of 25,000 barrels per day. Currently, oil from the project has earned Iran US$300 million.

The oil field was jointly developed by the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), Elf, Bow Valley and Agip, under a buy-back agreement signed in 1999. NIOC has a 31.5% stake in the project.