Energy major BP says its mega tight-gas project in Block 61 in central Oman has the potential to yield an additional 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas on top of the 1.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day that the block’s Khazzan and Ghazeer fields are poised to deliver.
The revelation came in report published by Bloomberg News over the weekend. The international news service quoted Stephen Willis, BP’s Senior Vice-President for the Middle East, as saying that with further investment, output from the giant development could be ramped up by around 26 per cent.
Last month, BP brought into production the Ghazeer field, representing Phase 2 of its multibillion dollar investment in Block 61. Phase 1, centring on the prolific Khazzan tight gas field, came online in September 2017 with an output of 1 bcf/day of natural gas.
Ghazeer, originally due to come into production in early 2021, began producing in October this year, at least three month before schedule. At full capacity, it will generate a further 0.5 bcf/day of gas, boosting the block’s total output to 1.5 bcf/day, representing as much as 35 per cent of the Sultanate’s total gas demand.
The executive made the comments in the context of BP’s commitment to sustain investments in its oil and natural-gas assets in the Middle East notwithstanding its ambitions to transition to renewable energy and reduce its carbon footprint.
Besides Oman, the energy giant is a major producer in Iraq, where it operates the world’s third-largest oil field of Rumaila. In the United Arab Emirates, BP is working with government-owned producer Adnoc to boost the capacity of onshore oil fields in Abu Dhabi.
The company also aims to extract gas from the Bad field in the emirate, Willis was quoted as stating.
The news report noted that gas output from Oman’s Block 61, in which BP has a majority interest, could be raised quickly depending upon market demand.
BP has plans to develop about 10.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves from the Block. As many as 300 wells are planned for drilling over the 15-year life Khazzan and Ghazeer developments.
As of June 2030, investments made by BP Oman in the block aggregated $9.3 billion out of a total commitment of $16 billion planned during the life of the project.
BP is the operator of Block 61 with a 60-per cent stake, while the remainder is held by OQ (30 per cent) and Petronas (10 per cent).
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