Preliminary interpretation is very promising. We will start drilling the first wells around 2016-2017.

PDO has been targeting discovery and development of smaller prospects in the East flank of the Rima-Marmul field. What progress has been made on this front?

There is so much potential along the eastern flank. Opportunities along this trend tend to be small to medium size but have a high value, low UTC due to their proximity to infrastructure. This year, we drilled three opportunities, of which two are commercial discoveries.

How much difference are they expected to make?

I can’t quote a number right now because all discoveries are going through production testing.

The Upper Shuaiba project in Lekhwair is expected to contribute significantly towards the increase in oil production by PDO by 2017. What is the status of the project? Are you on track to meet your commitment for production by 2017?

The project is advancing as per the plan, which is to be on production by the second quarter of 2017. This year, the shareholders are expected to take a final investment decision and the Exploration team has actually just finished drilling 11 appraisal wells within the Upper Shuaiba. We are also addressing a new exploration concept this year within the Lekhwair field. If it works, it has a promising potential to contribute a significant production wedge in the near future.

On the gas side, tell us about the developments in the Khulud and Mabrouk Deep projects.

Oman in general is a tight gas terrain. The Khulud project is a pilot to test commerciality of ultra-tight and deep reservoirs. Because of the high subsurface uncertainties associated with Khulud, and the capital expenditure exposure, a phased development approach is in place. Phase I will add about 2.5 million standard cubic metres by 2019 ramping up to 5 million in 2021. Learnings from the Khulud appraisal are integrated with exploration studies to define reservoir “sweet spots” for future drilling locations.

The Mabrouk Deep field carries a three-phase development plan formulated to accommodate both the accelerated production as well as potential performance uncertainties.

Phase I was completed in the second quarter of 2014, to de-bottleneck the existing plant along with the drilling of five appraisal wells. Phase II, which is ongoing, consists of construction of a 20” CS pipeline from Mabrouk to the Saih Rawl Central Processing Plant and drilling of three development wells. Phase III of the overall development plan includes construction of separation and super heating facilities at Mabrouk and drilling and hooking up of an additional 11 wells to the new facility. The expected on-stream date for the project is the third quarter of 2018.

What are going to be your focus areas in the coming months?

We continue with our themes, as stated earlier, with a focus on value creation and portfolio diversification, especially on the gas front. Our shareholders invested a lot on new, state-of-the-art seismic and the focus is on harvesting all the opportunities and maturing them to drillable prospects as fast as possible. Block 6 is considered a very mature area from an exploration angle but the diversity of its plays (opportunities) makes exploring a rich experience.

What have been the major achievements of the ED as a result of the implementation of Lean business efficiency measures?

Lean is all about efficiency and waste elimination. From exploration, the most important achievement is the turnaround time it takes to acquire seismic and processing it. The optimised time has resulted in millions of savings.

What are your views about the significant cut down in the exploration activities globally by the oil and gas majors?

Naturally, when oil prices go down and companies look for areas to reduce expenditure, exploration always becomes a target business to reduce expenditure because of the long-term impact on business.

However, the exploration mindset is shifting largely towards value creation. A carefully struck balance between long-term reserves replenishment and short/ mid-term gains is what is needed in any exploration business.

If the oil prices continue to be in the same band, what is going to happen to the unconventional assets?

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