Oman's Ministry of Energy and Minerals has signed a concession agreement with a joint venture of OQ Exploration and Production and Malaysian group Petronas for offshore block (18) in the Sea of Oman covering a 21,000 sq km area.
The agreement was signed on behalf of Petronas by its wholly-owned subsidiary, PC Oman Ventures, which will assume operatorship of Block 18 in partnership with OQEP.
Block 18 is considered one of the leading offshore areas with diverse geological potential, despite the technical challenges associated with exploration and drilling in deep waters, as no confirmed discoveries have previously been made in the block. Block 18 covers more than 21,000 sq km offshore northeast Oman.
This comes as part of its ongoing efforts to boost exploration and production activities and expand the hydrocarbon resource base in the sultanate.
Under the terms of the agreement, Petronas will assume operatorship with a 70% participating interest, while OQ exploration and production will hold the remaining 30% stake in the concession rights.
The agreement includes an initial exploration period of four years, which may be extended, with the possibility of declaring commerciality and granting a production concession for a period of 30 years.
The agreement was signed by Eng. Salim Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals with Mahmoud Abdullah Al Hashmi, the Acting CEO of OQ Exploration and Production, and Muhammad Redhani Abdul Rahman, Vice President of International Assets at Petronas, in its capacity as the operator of the concession area and on behalf of PC Oman Ventures.
The investing companies are expected to implement a comprehensive work program that includes conducting geophysical surveys and technical studies, in addition to drilling exploratory wells to assess the hydrocarbon potential of the area, thereby contributing to strengthening the Sultanate of Oman’s position on the regional and global energy map.-TradeArabia News Service
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