Iran is in talks with foreign and domestic companies to develop the biggest oilfield which it shares with Iraq, an official said.
The plan to develop South Azadegan involves the production of 320,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the initial phase before raising the recovery to 600,000 bpd, IRNA reported.
Mahmoud Mar'ashi, who is in charge of the project, said Sunday six domestic and foreign companies have announced readiness to drill 70 wells at the field.
"We are currently in discussions with these companies and are reviewing technical issues," he said without identifying the firms.
Up to 16 oil rigs are currently drilling 100 wells at the field amid a rush to catch up with neighboring Iraq in production.
"If foreign companies are selected, their operation modality will be similar to that by local companies in the form of two-year usance where each firm will have to dig 20 wells," Mar'ashi said.
Iran has accelerated drilling in the oilfield since taking it over from the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) which had its $2.5 billion contract cancelled in May 2014 due to repeated delays.
In April 2014, Iraq started producing 210,000 barrels per day from the field which it calls 'Majnoon'. The country awarded the field to a consortium led by the Royal Dutch Shell, targeting a production plateau of 1.8 million bpd.
Iranian officials say early production from the field stands at 50,000 bpd. They hope to make up for the delays and setbacks over the next two years.
Iran first awarded the development of South Azadegan to Japan's Inpex in 2001 but had to terminate it after five years due to the company's inaction.
South Azadegan is the world's third largest oilfield with in-place reserves of about 33.2 billion barrels and recoverable resources of about six billion barrels.