Maha Energy weighs decision to bring Oman Block 70 into operation

Maha Energy weighs decision to bring Oman Block 70 into operation

MUSCAT: Buoyed by promising oil flows during production testing of its Block 70 licence in central Oman, Swedish based international oil and gas firm Maha Energy says it is now weighing a decision to bring the field into commercial operation.

An initial short-term production test targeting the Mafraq heavy oil field – the block’s main hydrocarbon asset – yielded over 4,000 barrels of heavy, high viscosity oil, the Stockholm-headquartered company revealed on Wednesday.

Of a total of eight production wells that were tested as part of the exercise, five produced oil to the surface at an initial estimated average rate of 300 barrels per day (bpd) per well. Testing of the three other wells was suspended after they produced water and gas, but before yielding any oil.

The relatively tiny block, covering an area of 639 sq kilometres, is located in the middle of the prolific oil producing Ghaba Salt Basin in central Oman. Its shallow undeveloped Mafraq heavy oil field was discovered by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in 1988.

Pending a decision to announce a Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) – which entails a formal notification to the Ministry of Energy and Minerals that the Mafraq oilfield is a commercial discovery – Maha Energy