MUSCAT -- Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Plc (PTTEP) aims to launch commercial operations from its Block 44 concession in eastern Oman by October 2006. A statement issued by a senior representative said the company has made considerable progress in the development of the Shams Field in Block 44. PTTEP plans to commence production with a daily output of around 50 million cubic feet (mcf) of gas and around 4,000 barrels of condensate. Production is expected to be boosted to around 100-120 mcf of gas and 10,000 bpd of condensate per day.
Natural gas output from the Shams Field will help supplement production from fields in northern Oman required to serve as feedstock and fuel for the petrochemical and industrial mega-schemes under development at the Port of Sohar. Under an agreement signed in April last year, the company is committed to supplying 50 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Shams field of Block 44. The design, detail engineering, procurement and construction work for the Shams Gas and Condensate Development Project has already been completed.
PTTEP acquired exploration and production rights to Block 44, a 1,162 sq km onshore concession, in 2002.
After completing geophysical studies and 3D seismic surveys in 2004, the operator drilled the first exploratory well. The Shams-1 well is known to have had gas potential as early as 1978 when it was held by another operator. Since then, PTTEP has drilled a number of wells in the Shams field, notably Shams-3 exploration well where natural gas and large quantities of condensate have been found. Munhamir-1 exploration well, also situated in Block 44, has yielded evidence of significant crude oil reserves. These new discoveries at Shams-3 well and Munhamir-1 have added to the potential of Block 44.
Earlier this month, the company signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with the Omani government for the onshore Block 58, located in the south-west of Oman. PTTEP, which will wholly own the block, will invest approximately $38 million during two phases of exploration work spread out over five years in all. An initial geological study has indicated crude oil potential in the 2,264-square-kilometre block, which is PTTEP's second project in Oman.
Set up in 1985 as a subsidiary of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, PTTEP has been engaged in onshore and offshore exploration and production activities in Thailand and other countries. Besides Oman, PTTEP has also invested in petroleum related projects in Algeria, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia.
By Conrad Prabhu
Oman Daily Observer 2006
