Global Arab Network | Boosting hydrocarbon potential - Oman discovers two oil and gas fields

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Boosting hydrocarbon potential - Oman discovers two oil and gas fields

Global Arab Network - - Gamal Ragay

Tuesday, 16 February 2010 17:46

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the country’s premier hydrocarbon producer, has announced a string of new oil and gas discoveries, including two fields — one oil and the other gas — with significant hydrocarbon potential. PDO Managing Director John Malcolm made the announcement at the company’s annual media briefing held at Mina al Fahal. Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Member of PDO’s Board of Directors, attended the briefing. Also present were PDO Board members and senior company executives.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that 2009 was a successful year for our Exploration Directorate. During the year, PDO discovered three new oil fields, one with a major volume of oil in place. The company has also found a potentially large gas field,” Malcolm stated. Following an ambitious exploration programme in central Oman, PDO made a major oil discovery at Al Ghubar South, close to the existing Al Ghubar and Qarn Alam fields. In all, four exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in 2009 to confirm the discovery, and further drilling to delineate further extensions of the field is planned during 2010.

The amount of oil in place could be in excess of 1 billion barrels making this a significant discovery. The oil encountered in the reservoir is both heavy and viscous and in late 2009, PDO successfully carried out a steam trial to prove that the oil can be recovered using existing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies. A development team has been assembled to fast track this discovery and over the coming months a field development plan will be prepared by the in-house Study Centre. Also during 2009, PDO made two further oil discoveries at Dafiq West in the north of PDO’s concession area and Anbar in the central region of the Sultanate.

The Anbar discovery, close to the existing Sadad field, followed an innovative drilling campaign in which 12 wells were drilled in a grid pattern. Five of the wells encountered oil in the Gharif reservoir and these are currently being hooked up to the existing production network in the area as part of an early production system designed to evaluate the new field. The new Dafiq West field is close to the Dafiq field which was originally discovered in 2005. A production test well at Dafiq West has already been connected to local production system, joining three existing test wells from the Dafiq field.

Once the evaluation process is completed, the Dafiq West and Dafiq fields will be jointly developed. PDO also made a large gas discovery at Khulud in the north of PDO’s concession area. Gas in potentially large volumes was found at a depth of more than 5,000 metres in very tight reservoirs with low permeability and at very high temperatures. Two new wells are currently planned in the area in 2010 to help evaluate this discovery. “These four discoveries represent an important success for PDO’s exploration efforts during 2009,” Managing Director John Malcolm said.

“They highlight the continued hydrocarbons potential of Oman’s subsurface and shows that there will be opportunities for further exploration for many years to come.” Exploration Director Martin Stäuble added: “Even though its oil will be difficult to produce, Al Ghubar South is likely to rank as one of the largest oil discoveries ever made in Oman. The use of steam injection during the exploration phase is a first which highlights PDO role as a regional leader in the application of enhanced oil recovery technologies.” (Source:- ONA, OmanNet)

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