BP has announced that it has plans to build a plant to process natural gas that will be produced from its Block 61 tight gas fields in north-central Oman
A commercial agreement between BP and the Omani government for starting the full-field development of the field is expected to be signed before the end of the year, company sources revealed.
Nasser bin Khamis Al Jashmi, undersecretary at Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas, said, “BP is currently carrying out technical evaluation of bids and is likely to soon open commercial bids.”
Al Jashmi added that the plant would have a capacity to process 28.3mn cubic metres of natural gas per day, which is the anticipated production from Khazzan and Makarem fields in the first phase.
According to Al Jashmi, around 11 appraisal wells have already been drilled by BP and it will continue to drill more wells, until it has made a final investment decision on Block 61.
Sources at Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas had earlier said that BP would be expected to invest US$20bn to US$24bn for the first phase full-field development of its Block 61 tight gas fields.
The first phase of the development programme is spread over a 25-year concession period and aimed at producing 190bn cubic metres of natural gas. The first delivery of gas is expected by 2017, sources added.
