BP Oman ramps up Khazzan gas output

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Oman - Production from flagship tight-gas development rises to 1 billion cubic feet / day

Natural gas output from BP Oman’s Khazzan tight-gas development has been scaled up to around 1 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day – up from 0.5 bcf/day — meeting a key milestone in the delivery of gas from its flagship investment in the Sultanate.

“BP is ramping up as we speak,” Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil & Gas, told the Observer.

The 1 bcf/d target was achieved just over a week ago, an official spokesperson of BP Oman confirmed to the newspaper. It comes just over five months since the giant Khazzan gasfield in Block 61 in central Oman was brought on stream on September 22, 2017, with game-changing results for Oman’s energy sector.

While the new gas is being fed into the gas grid that supplies consumers, such as power and water desalination plants, petrochemical complexes, industrial parks and a host of other end users across the country, part of the additional output has been earmarked for processing into liquefied natural gas (LNG) by Oman LNG.

The additional volumes will help Oman LNG’s Qalhat plant achieve its full nameplate capacity of 10.4 million tons per annum (mtpa) for the first time in several years.

Earlier this year, the majority Omani government owned company inked a major Sales and Purchase agreement (SPA) covering the supply of LNG to BP Singapore. Under the SPA, which came into effect in January this year, BP Singapore began lifting 1.1 mtpa of LNG from Qalhat, which is equivalent to approximately 18 LNG cargoes annually. The tenure of the agreement is seven years.

Output from the Khazzan field will plateau at 1 bcf/d during the current Phase 1 of the multibillion dollar development, which targets ‘tight gas’ trapped in rock at considerable depths. Around 25,000 barrels per day of condensates are also being yielded during the processing of these volumes. In Phase 2 – dubbed Ghazeer – production will be beefed up to 1.5 bcf/d. A total of 10.5 trillion cubic feet (bcf) of recoverable gas resources will be harnessed over the two phases, according to BP Oman.

BP is the Operator of Block 61 and holds a 60 per cent interest. Oman Oil Company for Exploration & Production (OOCEP), a subsidiary of Oman Oil Company, holds a 40 per cent interest.