Oman’s oil minister, Mohammed bin Hamad al-Rumhi, signed two agreements granting exploration rights for concessions 51 and 65 to local companies.
The first agreement was signed with Occidental Oman, for concession 51, which spans 10,133 sqkm. The second was signed with Occidental Oman and Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production, for the 1,230 sqkm concession 65.
Block 65, which is expected to hold oil assets, will require $32mn investment from the companies, which will include seismic survey, analysis of existing surveys, and the drilling of nine wells in two phases over a period of six years. The third phase will include the drilling of five additional wells, in addition to an investment of $12mn, the government news agency wrote in a press release.
Meanwhile, Occidental Oman will invest $6mn in the first phase of its block 51 exploration project, which will span three years and includes seismic and three-dimensional surveys as well as the drilling of three wells, followed by a second phase, with $14mn investment, where two wells will be drilled. Block 51 is expected to hold gas assets.
“The concession Blocks 51 and 65 will be drilled for the exploration of both crude oil and gas however, Block 51, situated mostly in Al Dakhliya and a part in North Sharqiyah has more possibility of gas. Block 65 is located in Al Dhahira region,” Salman Mohammed Al Shihi, director general of the Management of Petroleum Investment at the Ministry of Oil and Gas told local news outlet Times of Oman.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas noted that it hoped this would lead to the discovery of new oil fields, which could increase petroleum reserves and raise production rates in the Sultanate.
