BP has revealed ambitious plans to develop conventional gas fields in Oman and Egypt with a total investment exceeding USD 35 billion.
In Oman, BP is expected to invest USD 24 billion for the first phase’s full-field development of its block in 61 tight gas fields in north-central Oman. In Egypt, BP aims to invest USD 11 billion on the gas exploration activities of the deep water in the Mediterranean Sea.
Plans for Oman.
Shaikh Ali bin Thabit al-Battashi, adviser to Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas, told The Times of Oman that the initial upfront investment of BP in the country will be USD 24 billion, and the first phase of the development program is spread over a 25-year concession period and aimed at producing 6.7 Tcf of natural gas, which is equivalent to 1 Bcf/D of gas.
“The first delivery of gas is expected by 2017,” al-Battashi said. “Initially, the company will start with a lower production, which will eventually reach 1 Bcf by 2019.”
If everything goes well, BP’s gas exploration will help Oman, which is short of gas for meeting demand from a host of industrial projects, to achieve self-sufficiency in clean energy.
Al-Battashi also noted that the Omani government and BP are discussing to bring forward the second phase development, which is envisaged to produce another 1 Bcf of gas.
"The upfront investment will cover most of the investments required for the Phase II development program as well because the second phase will be for drilling of wells. Facilities like a central gas processing plant will come up in the first phase itself,” he said.
Zaid Khamis al-Siyabi, director general of oil and gas exploration and production at the ministry, said the plan is to drill 282 wells. “Ten (test) wells are currently being prepared for fracking,” he said.
Now BP is drilling its 12th well and one more is to be drilled soon. Few wells have been hooked up through early production facilities and BP is trying to assess the productivity of the wells. It uses the information to update the model which will be used to predict the overall field production.
Investment in Egypt
Meanwhile, the announcement about BP’s new investment offshore Egypt followed a meeting between the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and BP chief executive Bob Dudley, local newspaper al-Ahram said.
The company will start offshore drilling activities in the deep water of the Mediterranean Sea. “The new investments will be executed over the next 5 years, and will increase the country’s total proved natural gas reserves by 20%,” Dudley said.
BP has been investing in Egypt for more than 50 years, with total investments exceeding USD 17 billion, making it one of the largest foreign investors in the country.
