Oman's biggest oil producer Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has announced the discovery of three oil fields and a large gasfield.
Following an ambitious exploration programme in central Oman, PDO has made a major oil discovery at Al Ghubar South, close to the existing Al Ghubar and Qarn Alam fields, a company statement said.
In all, four exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in 2009 to confirm the discovery, and further drilling to delineate further extensions of the field is planned during 2010.
The amount of oil in place could be in excess of 1 billion barrels making this a significant discovery.
The oil encountered in the reservoir is both heavy and viscous.In late 2009, PDO successfully carried out a trial to prove that the oil can be recovered using existing enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies.
A development team has been assembled to fast track this discovery and over the coming months a field development plan will be prepared by the in-house study centre of the company.
During 2009, PDO made two more oil discoveries at Dafiq West in the north of PDO's concession area and Anbar in the central region of the Sultanate.
The Anbar discovery, close to the existing Sadad field, followed an innovative drilling campaign in which 12 wells were drilled in a grid pattern.
Five of the wells encountered oil in the Gharif reservoir and these are currently being hooked up to the existing production network in the area as part of an early production system designed to evaluate the new field.
The new Dafiq West field is close to the Dafiq field which was originally discovered in 2005.
Once the evaluation process is completed, the Dafiq West and Dafiq fields will be jointly developed.
PDO has also made a large gas discovery at Khulud in the north of PDO's concession area.
Gas in potentially large volumes was found at a depth of more than 5,000 metres in very tight reservoirs with low permeability and at very high temperatures.
Two new wells are currently planned in the area in 2010 to help evaluate this discovery.
"These four discoveries represent an important success for PDO's exploration efforts during 2009," Managing Director John Malcolm said.
"They highlight the continued hydrocarbons potential of Oman's subsurface and shows that there will be opportunities for further exploration for many years to come," Malcolm said.
