Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has staged a celebration event to mark the delivery of its 100^th field development plan (FDP).
The ceremony, under the auspices of His Excellency Dr Mohammed Al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, included an exhibition at the Company’s Mina Al Fahal headquarters charting the 14-year achievement.
FDPs cover all aspects involved in developing an oil or gas field, including safety, environmental and economic factors, reservoir characteristics, well design and construction, engineering and infrastructure.
The 100 created by PDO since 2003 span 77 different oil fields covering 32 various reservoir combinations and have led to the planned drilling of over 5,000 wells with the addition of 2.6 billion barrels of reserves, equivalent to nearly 14 years of the Company’s oil production.
They cover all known recovery processes from primary recovery, such as natural flow, secondary, such as pressure maintenance, and tertiary, such as enhanced oil recovery.
The plans have been generated by the Company’s Field Development Centre and its predecessor the Study Centre, which was set up in 2003 to achieve a turnaround in declining production.
PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said: “Our Field Development Centre staff play a critical role in supporting our production plans and hydrocarbon maturation funnel to ensure we are maximising the recovery of oil, gas and condensates from our concession area in a safe, responsible and commercially viable way.
“The creation of our 100^th FDP represents a fantastic collective effort and clearly illustrates our determination to deliver competitive, in-house front-end development solutions comprising fit-for-purpose field development plans, concept and design selections.
“Our decision to sustainably fuel PDO’s production engine through focused FDPs and strategies over the long term has arrested a production decline and realised enormous value for Oman.”
The first FDP to be delivered was for a primary and infill development at Nimr-B field, comprising 51 wells and yielding 36 million barrels of additional reserves. The 100^th was the Saih Rawl Shuaiba FDP which lays the groundwork for 92 more wells to produce 22 million barrels of reserves at a low unit technical cost.
The 120-strong PDO Field Development Centre team of petroleum engineers includes 20 PhD and 40 MSc holders and six out of 10 staff are Omani.
PDO Field Development Manager Junaid Mohiddin Ghulam said: “Over the years, several hundred Omani staff have been developed through the centre, published a multitude of technical papers and presented at numerous conferences over the years. It represents a beacon of expertise and endeavour for the Sultanate.
“PDO’s amazing ability to deliver 100 FDPs through its own in-house ring-fenced Field Development Centre has enabled it to determine its destiny of growth and prosperity for years to come. Every day, we are pushing the envelope on what is technically feasible and economically viable.
“Few exploration and production companies have in-house maturation capability from project trial through to operation and staff capability development for all three EOR mechanisms: thermal, chemical and miscible gas injection.  This full suite of capabilities is of tremendous commercial potential for broader commercialisation and service provision to external customers.”