Oman has announced that it has invited local and international explorers for five oil and gas blocks — onshore and offshore — in a new bidding round
According to Oman Daily Observer, the Oman Bid Round 2014 put up offshore Blocks 18 and 59 and onshore Blocks 43A, 54 and 58.
Ministry of Oil and Gas said, “Interested companies having relevant technical and financial capabilities are welcomed to bid for the blocks and, thereby, requested to follow and fulfil the bid process.”
The deadline for the submission of sealed bids against these blocks is 31 October 2014 and in order participate in this bid round, companies would be required to deposit a non-refundable sum of US$100,000 per block.
As many as 16 local and international companies are currently exploring for hydrocarbons and under production sharing agreements signed with the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
The latest bidding round is part of the Omani government’s effort to unearth and commercialise the Sultanate’s hydrocarbon potential. The sector accounted for around 50 per cent of nominal GDP during 2013.
Offshore Block 18 is located in the North Sohar Basin between the Batinah Coast and the Makran Accretionary Prism. The concession covers an area of 21,140 sq km with water depths ranging from 30 to 3,000 metres. Around 10,000km of 2D and 2,048 sq km of 3D seismic have already been acquired from the block. Three wells have been drilled by previous operators with a number of plays identified so far, according to the Ministry.
Offshore Block 59, with an area of 40,488 sq km, is one of the largest concessions within the upstream sector. The block is located off Oman’s central east coast and is an accommodate basin for deposition western clastic influx and delimited from the east by its own basin with water depths ranging upto 3,600 metres. About 8,000km of 2D seismic has already been covered, according to the Ministry.
Onshore Block 54, which flanks the South Oman Salt Basin, covers an area of 5,632 sq km and located in the southeastern part of the country. There have been recent discovery of new fields in adjoining blocks. “The block is covered with about 7,000km of 2D and 400 sq km of 3D seismic. Seven wells been drilled within the block with hydrocarbon shows in some of the wells,” the Ministry added.
Block 43A, located north of the Oman Mountains, is, however, underexplored with only one well drilled and some 1,200km of 2D seismic acquired to date. The concession covers an area of about 6,879 sq km.
Block 58 covers an area of 2,277 sq kms between the South Oman Salt Basin and Rub Al Khali Basin. “The block is considered as under-explored, giving it a unique setting to explore and develop its deep structures. It is covered by around 2500km of multi-quality 2D. Only one exploration well penetrated the block with a target depth of 4,275 metres.”
