Oman goes for more gas

BP and Eni are cooperating in a new search for gas close to the successful Khazzan project

It is still early days. BP and Eni thus far have signed only a heads of agreement that they hope will lead eventually to the award of an exploration and production-sharing accord to develop a newly-created block in central Oman. Block 77 (total area of 3,100km2 or 1,197 miles2) lies only 30 km to the east of Block 61. BP is the operator of the Khazzan tight-gas project in Block 61, which is producing around 1bn cf/d. A second phase, Ghazeer, is under development and is scheduled to come onstream in 2021, adding a further 0.5bn cf/d of gas production. At full capacity of 1.5bn cf/d, Block 61 will produce enough to cover around 40pc of Oman's domestic gas needs. Partnering BP, which holds a 60