The Khazzan and Ghazeer developments are expected to deliver total production of 10.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 350 million barrels of condensate through the end of concession.

BP Oman is the operator of the largest unconventional gas project in the Middle East – a gas project called Khazzan that produces a significant supply of Oman’s gas. After four years of field development, First Gas from Khazzan was delivered on time and under budget in September 2017.

Khazzan currently delivers around 1 billion cubic feet of gas a day, which is fed into the government gas pipeline infrastructure for distribution, and 25,000 barrels of condensate each day. The drilling of wells continues apace with over 200 required in total over the lifetime of the project. Collectively, BP’s operations in Oman make a significant and varied impact on the local economy; work with Omani companies accounts for 42 per cent value of awarded contracts and 70 per cent of the workforce is Omani, with aim to reach 90 per cent by 2025.

In April 2018, BP sanctioned the second phase development of the Khazzan gas field. Around 3.5 trillion cubic feet of accessible gas and 175 million barrels of condensate are estimated to exist at the Ghazeer extension which adjoins Khazzan to the south west. Around 100 wells will be drilled over the project lifetime to access it. The Ghazeer project is expected to come onstream in 2021 and deliver an additional 0.5 billion cubic feet per day and over 15,000 barrels of condensate per day.

In February 2018, Ghazeer’s first development well successfully spudded, an important landmark following the rigorous testing of appraisal wells. Results from this well will help in gathering the required sub-surface data to understand the reservoir structure and gas production potential from the field as a whole.

Drilling operations continue, with a total of three rigs being deployed at Ghazeer to deliver nine vertical wells in 2018, of which eight have already been drilled. In total, Ghazeer requires completion of 24 well sites to reach First Gas.

The teams at Ghazeer recently celebrated breaking a new record in delivering a well in just 48 days, compared to the average 120 days when work first began four years ago.

A key factor contributing to the project’s continued success is the learnings being taken from Khazzan’s journey to First Gas. A strong safety culture established from conducting work at Khazzan has enabled potential hazards at Ghazeer to be eliminated early on. Regular safety and environment forums, bringing together leadership and contractors, has further instilled the safety culture in both BP and contractor staff.

A replicated design approach from Khazzan to Ghazeer has also given an early boost to construction in the field, which is currently at 33 per cent completion. All construction work is being executed in a precise sequence based on previously planned logistics at Khazzan, which has greatly improved the pace of construction activity.

Construction work is underway to construct roads leading to the wells, and pipeline and well site construction is scheduled to begin next year. Work is also underway to build a third gas processing train, that will be added to the CPF to handle the increased volume of gas, which, when combined with Khazzan, will total 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day. The site has currently has over 1,500 permanent and temporary workers on site and this number is expected to increase to almost 4,000 workers at peak performance.

Earlier this year, BP Oman reached an agreement with Oman LNG to boost the LNG market by providing 1.1 million tonnes of gas over a seven-year period to BP Singapore. The agreement is a continuation of the strong partnership between Oman LNG and BP and will be a significant boost to the global LNG market, equating to approximately 18 LNG cargoes annually.

The total lifetime capital expenditure for the Khazzan and Ghazeer gas fields is estimated at $16 billion, with some 300 wells being drilled through the estimated operation age for the two stages. The Khazzan and Ghazeer developments are expected to deliver total production of 10.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 350 million barrels of condensate through the end of concession.