Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the Sultanate’s biggest oil and gas producer, achieved record production of 1.210 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2019, bolstered by a strong uptick in condensate output.
This compares with a combined oil, gas and condensate output of 1.205 million boe/d during 2018.
Black oil production was the highest since 2005 – averaging 616,380 barrels per day (bpd), the majority state-owned energy firm announced in a recent post, titled ‘Committed to Sustainable Developments: Highlights of 2019’. The corresponding figure for 2018 was 610,170 bpd. Crude output is proposed to be ramped up to around 700,000 bpd by 2024, it said.
Gas production averaged 62.2 million m3/day last year, which was slightly lower from previous year’s average of 64.8 million m3/day. However, condensate output surged to 93,000 barrels per day (bpd) last year, up from around 65,300 bpd in 2018.
Among the many highlights of 2019 was its success in booking 136 million barrels of contingent oil resources, and 1.1 trillion cubic feet of commercial contingent resource of non-associated gas volumes in “some of the most testing terrain in the world”, said the company.
Significantly, the company achieved a further reduction in the unit finding cost (UFC) of oil to $1 per barrel, with an overall UFC of $0.9 per barrel of oil equivalent, it said
Furthermore, the Exploration Directorate drilled 26 wells and production from exploration wells was delivered as planned at a daily average rate of approximately 1,250 barrels, with further output expected from new exploration wells coming on stream during this year (2020), said the company in a report published in the latest issue of its Al Fahal magazine.
A key highpoint of 2019, according to PDO, was the “safe and successful start-up” of the company’s largest project – Rabab Harweel Integrated Project (RHIP) -- representing the largest reserve addition (more than 500 million barrels of oil equivalent) and capital project in PDO history. This world-class, highly technical and complex project was delivered two months ahead of schedule and over $1 billion under budget, said PDO.
Additionally, as part of its transition to a full-fledged energy company, PDO is placing a greater emphasis on renewables such as solar and wind. It is also continuing to deploy and trial technologies to improve its energy and water management, and reduce flaring and greenhouse gas emissions, it said.
Building on its contribution to In-Country Value (ICV) development, PDO’s strategies helped ensure the local retention of cumulatively around $615 million in contract value last year, it said. It also delivered 11 manufacturing and services facilities in 2019, creating around 200 jobs for locals.
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