Boost for Oman’s offshore hydrocarbon quest

Masirah Oil begins Block 50 drilling — By Conrad Prabhu — MUSCAT — Oman’s efforts to go offshore in its quest to unearth new hydrocarbon reserves have received a boost with Masirah Oil Ltd announcing the commencement of the drilling of its first well in Block 50 in the waters around Masirah Island. Masirah Oil is owned 64 per cent by Lime Petroleum of the British Virgin Islands, while Petroci Holding, the national oil company of Ivory Coast, holds the balance 36 per cent. Thirty-five per cent of Lime Petroleum is in turn owned by Hibiscus Petroleum Berhad, Malaysia’s first independent exploration and production company listed as a special purpose acquisition company on the Malaysia securities market.

Last week, Hibiscus announced the start of a drilling campaign targeting prospects internally estimated at around 160 million barrels in prospective resources.

An independent leg cantilever jack-up drilling rig, named Aban VII, has been contracted by the company for the drilling of an exploratory well targeting the Masirah North North 1 prospect. This will be followed by the drilling of a second well targeting the Masirah North East 1 prospect. Both wells are part of a two-well drilling programme that could potentially see more wells being drilled depending on the success of the first two. Other prospects and leads identified across the roughly 17,000 sq km concession include GA South, Masirah North, Maimun S, K2 West A, SMPB South, K1N, K1S and K2.  These prospects were identified following the completion of extensive seismic work offshore, combined with detailed interpretation including the use of proprietary ‘Rex Technologies’. Significantly, Masirah Oil’s drilling campaign is the first by an oil company looking for oil and gas offshore Oman since India’s Reliance Industries Limited relinquished its deepwater Block 18 concession in the Sohar Basin two years ago. At present, hydrocarbon production from offshore fields is restricted to only one field — Block 8 off the Musandam peninsula — operated by DNO International.

Keen to attract foreign investment in offshore blocks, the Ministry of Oil and Gas is currently evaluating offers for a number of concessions offered by the Omani government for exploration and development. Underscoring the aggressive pace envisaged for the exploration and development of Block 50, early production can potentially be expected to commence next year in the event that the first two wells yield commercial discoveries. Due to the proximity of Block 50 to Duqm, Masirah Oil has chosen Duqm Port as its logistics base. Towards this end, it has worked with Duqm Port Company to lease storage and operations area in the port, as well as quayside access to operate supply vessels. The company has also contracted with Aerogulf Services of the UAE to operate helicopters from the port to the drilling rig.
(OEPPA Business Development Dept)