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TEHRAN May 02 (Shana): Managing director of the National Iranian Offshore Oil Company (NIOOC) says the company’s gas production capacity will rise 570 million cubic feet per day this year after commissioning new projects.

NIOOC’s managing director, Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh told Shana a number of oil and gas contracts would be signed this year to increase production.

He said the company had focused its activities on boosting oil and gas production on the one hand and maximizing productivity by attracting new investments on the other hand.

According to Zirakchianzadeh, combined production of NIOOC will rise by 4 percent this year. He continued 25 billion dollars projects were underway in area covered by the company, the lion’s share of them by Iranian companies.

‘Domestic banks and financial institutions’ participation in the company’s upstream projects has facilitated development of the projects’ the official noted adding Bank Mellat, Bank Tejarat and Bank Saderat were the main investors.

Stating that in near future 10.000 billion rial bonds will be issued for development of NIOOC’s projects, the official added there was the possibility to increase NIOOC’s oil and gas production through people’s participation.

Zirakchianzadeh went on to say that enhancing recovery was one of the company’s main programs adding the company has conducted three dimensional seismic operations in all Bahregan region’s fields and at the same time is involved in preparing Master Development Plans of the Soroush, Norouz, Bahregansar, Hendijan and Mahshahr.

NIOOC will act as pivot for fifth and sixth five year economic development plans by raising oil production by 30 percent and increasing gas production to 11 billion cubic meters per day, equivalent of 11 phases of South Pars gas field.

New York (Platts)--2May- Crude oil shipped on the Seaway Crude Pipeline System will take about 12 days to travel from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Houston once the pipeline reversal has started, a spokesman for Enterprise Products Partners said Wednesday.

The company said earlier Wednesday in a first quarter earnings release that it plans to reverse the flow on the pipeline "as early as May 17." The pipeline's initial capacity will be about 150,000 b/d, spokesman Rick Rainey said.

Rainey said crude oil will be able to travel five days between Cushing to Houston once the full line reversal, with a capacity of 400,000 b/d, is completed, which is targeted for early 2013. Capacity on the Seaway pipeline is expected to expand to 850,000 b/d in mid-2014, the company has said.

About two-thirds of the pipeline's current 150,000 b/d capacity is now committed, Mark Hurley, senior vice president-crude oil and offshore, told analysts on the company's conference call. Hurley said the "walk-up," or rate, is $3.82/b for lighter crude oils and $4.32/b for heavier crude oils.

Shippers pay a range of $2.75/b-$3.25/b if they have a long-term contract with Enterprise.

Enterprise Products Partners' CFO Randy Fowler said the company's 2012 capital growth spending will be $3.7 billion. The amount is higher than the company's earlier 2012 estimate of $3.5 billion and more than last year's $3.6 billion, Randy Burkhalter, an investor relations spokesman, said after the conference call.

Enterprise's net income in the first quarter rose to $651.3 million, or 73 cents/unit, up from $420.7 million, or 49 cents/unit, in the same period a year ago. Income for the most recent quarter got a boost from the sale of 26.3 million units of Energy Transfer Equity.

LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - OPEC output in April has hit its highest since 2008 as extra crude from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Libya more than compensates for the lowest Iranian supply in two decades ahead of an EU embargo, a Reuters survey found on Monday.

Supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries averaged 31.75 million barrels per day (bpd), up from a revised 31.32 million bpd in March, the survey of sources at oil companies, OPEC officials and analysts found.

Despite reduced supplies from Iran, OPEC's total is the highest since September 2008, shortly before it agreed to a series of supply curbs to combat recession and collapsing demand, based on Reuters surveys.