Gross production from Mukhaizna heavy oilfield or Block 53 in Oman averaged 122,000 boepd in 2014, operator Occidental has announced
Occidental, wholly-owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY), is the largest independent producer of hydrocarbons in the sultanate with interests in four oil and gas blocks. The Mukhaizna field accounts for much of its black oil output.
Occidental said that it had drilled more than 2,400 new wells by the end of 2014, while pressing ahead with the implementation of a major steamflood project targeting Mukhaizna’s heavy oil reservoir.
Gross daily production from the field averaged around 122,000 boepd, which was 15 times higher than the production rate in September 2005, when the company took over operation of the field under a production sharing agreement with the Omani government. Occidental’s share of production from Oman was approximately 76,000 boepd in 2014, it added.
Mukhaizna, 500 km southwest of Muscat, is estimated to have 2.4bn barrels of 16º to 18° gravity, highly viscous oil in place in Lower Permian Upper and Middle Gharif unconsolidated sandstones at 900 m. It is the sixth largest field discovered in Oman. It also hosts one of the world’s largest thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects. At the core of the project is an oil treatment plant with a capacity of more than 180,000 bpd and steam injection facilities of a capacity greater than 600,000 barrels of steam per day (bspd).
In addition to its role as the operator of the Mukhaizna field, Occidental has a 45 per cent working interest in the block. The firm is also the operator of Block 9 and Block 27, with a 65 per cent working interest in each block. The latter blocks contain the Safah and Wadi Latham fields.
In 2008, Occidental was awarded a 20-year exploration and production sharing agreement for Block 62 — also known as the Habiba Block in north Oman — with a 48 per cent working interest. The company has also been pursuing development and exploration opportunities targeting gas and condensate resources within the 2,200 sq km concession.
Last year, it announced the signing of a five-year extension for the initial phase for the discovered non-associated gas area for Block 62. Sixteenth Investment Company LLC (affiliate of Mubadala Petroleum in Abu Dhabi) has a 32 per cent interest in the block with Oman Oil Company holding the remaining 20 per cent.
