BP has struck one of the largest gas deals in the Middle East after getting the go-ahead to develop the giant £10billion Khazzan project in Oman.
The British supermajor will operate the $16billion project, which will be one of the region’s largest tight gas developments.
Around 300 wells will be drilled across the field over the next fifteen years, with the aim of ultimately producing 1billion cubic feet of gas and 25,000 barrels of gas condensate per day – around a third of Oman’s total daily requirements.
“We are very pleased to be going ahead with this major project, which is very important for both Oman and for BP,” said BP chief executive Bob Dudley.
“This enables BP to bring to Oman the experience it has built up in tight gas production over many decades. This is one more example of BP developing a long term gas supply chain, in this case to bring energy to customers in Oman for decades to come.”
Construction work on the project will get underway next year, with first gas due from the site by late 2017. The project will see state-owned Oman Oil Company and Exploration taking a 40% stake in the field.
Ultimately, around 7trillion cubic feet of gas is expected to be produced from the development, with BP looking to new technology methods to access the unconventional supply.
Omani oil minister Dr Mohammed Al Rumhy said the deal was a key part of the gulf state’s efforts to meet its growing energy demands.
“The Khazzan project is the largest new upstream project in Oman and a pioneering development in the region in unlocking technically challenging tight gas through technology,” he said.
“As well as providing additional energy supply for Oman, the Khazzan project will generate wider direct benefit with the development of Omani employees and delivering in country value through the development of the local supply chain.”
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