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BP Signs Oman Deal Which Could Yield Some 20 - 30 Trillion Cubic Feet of Gas


WEBWIRE

22 January 2007
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman: BP today signed a major production-sharing agreement that will give the company access to two Middle East fields and associated accumulations that could yield resources of some 20 - 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Rumhi, Minister of Oil and Gas, Sultanate of Oman and Tony Hayward, BP’s CEO for Exploration and Production and recently designated Group Chief Executive.

The agreement covers an area of some 2,800 square kilometres in central Oman, including the Khazzan and Makarem gas fields which were discovered in 1993 but have remained undeveloped due to the complexity of their ’tight gas’ reservoirs.

As one of the world’s leading specialists in the production of tight gas, BP will apply innovative technology and proprietary expertise to unlock output hitherto trapped in scattered, low-permeability rock.
At a signing ceremony today in the Omani capital, Muscat, His Excellency Dr. Al Rumhi, said “We welcome BP to Oman on this important project where new technology is key and we look forward to some early results and a long and productive relationship.”

“This is a very significant deal for BP which will potentially add a large new gas province to our global portfolio”, Dr. Hayward explained.

"We are delighted to be working on such a large project with Oman. BP has extensive tight gas operations elsewhere in the world and this gives us a great opportunity to transfer our expertise and technology to Oman.

“We look forward to working with the Government of Oman in long-term partnership to develop these deposits for the benefit of the nation.”

BP will conduct a comprehensive multi-year appraisal programme to understand the nature of the reservoirs. Early production is expected to begin around 2010 during the latter stages of the appraisal study, followed by full field development.

The natural gas produced will be marketed by the Government of Oman.
Note to editors:
BP is one of the world’s largest companies with nearly 100,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries on six continents. The company’s main activities are oil & gas exploration and production, refining, marketing and supply & transportation.

The company’s regional exploration and production operations are headquartered in Abu Dhabi, with a wide-ranging portfolio of activities across the region. Dubai is the regional hub for BP’s refining and marketing businesses. The Dubai-based businesses include Air BP, BP Middle East Lubricants, BP Marine and Integrated Supply & Trading.

BP has worldwide expertise producing tight and other forms of ’challenging’ gas. The company operates around 3 billion cubic feet of challenging gas per day from fields in North Africa, Sharjah, Canada and the United States of America. For example, BP is developing tight gas deposits at the $2.2 billion development of the Wamsutter field in Wyoming, USA, where it currently operates 950 wells. The company also has tight gas operations in the San Juan basin in Colorado, where it leads the industry not only in terms of scale of operations, but also in coalbed methane production technology and environmental stewardship.

The Khazzan and Makarem deal marks BP’s entry into the Oman’s exploration and production sector. The company’s existing activities in the Sultanate which include the distribution of BP lubricants through the Oil Marketing Company SAOG (OOMCO), technical and commercial services provided by Air BP at Muscat’s Seeb Airport and an extensive BP Marine fuel bunkering operation at Salalah Port.



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