The Government of Oman, Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production LLC (OOCEP) and Occidental Hafar LLC (Oxy), a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, entered into an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) for Block 30, located in the Dakhiliya region onshore Oman.
Pursuant to the EPSA, Oxy is the Operator of Block 30 and holds a 72.86% stake while OOCEP holds the remaining 27.14% stake in the Block.
The signing ceremony took place at The Ministry of Oil & Gas under the auspices of HE Dr Mohammed Al Rumhi, the Minister of Oil & Gas. Signing the agreement on behalf of OOCEP was Eng Isam bin Saud Al Zadjali the CEO of Oman Oil Company, while Sandy Lowe, Group chairman Middle East, signed on behalf of Oxy.
Block 30 was awarded to Oxy and OOCEP following an international bid round process launched in October 2016.
The Block is located in the North-East mountainous region of Oman, approximately 200 km southwest of Muscat and covers an area of 1185 sq km. It contains four discoveries made by several operators under previous agreements namely the Nadir, Al Sahwa, Hafar fields and the Hamrat AlDuru field.
Commenting on the agreement, Isam Al Zadjali, the CEO of OOC said, “The concession area was awarded to OOCEP and Oxy in a joint bid that was presented as part of the Oman 2016 International Bid Round. Both OOCEP and Oxy have extensive exploration and production experience in the area”
“Occidental has been producing in Oman for over 30 years and is the largest independent oil producer operating in the Sultanate. They also operate Blocks 27 and 62, which are adjacent to Block 30. As such, they, like us, have extensive experience in the area. We are looking forward to expanding our partnership and work alongside Oxy in Block 30,” added Ayad Al Balushi, Director of Finance at OOCEP.
OOCEP is an Omani oil and gas company that was founded in 2009 and is a subsidiary of Oman Oil Company, an investment company specialised in the energy sector and wholly owned by the Government of Oman.
OOCEP currently operates three blocks in Oman (60, 42 & 48) and is a participant in a number of joint ventures, some of which are large scale projects in the Omani upstream landscape such as the Khazzan tight gas project operated by BP, the Mukhaizana field and Block 9 both of which are operated by Oxy.