Japan’s fourth largest oil refiner, Cosmo Oil, said that it has abandoned commercial production from the Block 11 offshore oil field in Qatar, Reuters reported. The company said it could not find enough oil reserves in the block after two trial wells were drilled.
Cosmo’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cosmo Energy Exploration and Development, acquired a 29.5% stake in the field in 2008. Its partners under the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) on Block 11 were Germany’s Wintershall (41%), the operator, and Anadarko Qatar Block 11 Company (29.5%), a subsidiary of Andarko Petroleum Corporation.
The news means that the company will have lost US$43 million in the pursuit of potential production in the Gulf state.
