Following production shutdown off Oman, restart anticipated in two weeks

Singapore’s Rex International has revealed that its subsidiary, Masirah Oil, is putting the wheels into motion to resume production at a field in the Block 50 concession offshore Oman after it was stopped due to oil leakage. The firm is also actively working on securing a rig for its drilling campaign, which is scheduled to be carried out later this year.

Rex International informed on Thursday, 23 June 2022, that the production from the Yumna field was shut in on 11 June 2022, when a “minor oil leakage” in the flowline was detected.

The firm explains that retrieval and replacement of the flowline are currently underway while production is expected to be restarted in about two weeks based on the “current estimated delivery of equipment/material and dependent upon weather conditions during installation operations.”

The company further added that “major change-outs” and upgrades were made to the Yumna field production facilities from February to April 2022. One of these changes is related to the new floating storage tanker, which was put in place instead of the previous one. This new tanker is certified to be in the field for several years without the need for dry-docking for renewal of the vessel classification and certificate, says Rex.

In addition, the mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) was changed out as well, together with a full upgrade of the production facilities on board, so that, the new storage tanker and MOPU will be able to handle increased production from any new producing wells at the Yumna field.

Rex also revealed that an electric submersible pump (ESP) inside the Yumna field had an operational issue during the start-up process following the change-outs and upgrades. The ESP is now currently operating.

The total oil production from the three production wells – Yumna 1, Yumna 2 and Yumna 3 – on the Yumna field has steadily increased to 4,800 stb/d and is expected to resume at the same production rates as before the upgrade of the production facilities.

Moreover, the firm intends to carry out a further review of the ESP performance, elaborating that a replacement will be considered in conjunction with the upcoming drilling campaign in the fourth quarter of 2022.

In regards to its rig search to secure a jack-up drilling rig for this drilling campaign – development/exploration wells – to be conducted in October/November 2022 when the monsoon season is over, Rex claims that it is ongoing.

Masirah Oil holds a 100 per cent interest in the Block 50 concession, while Rex International holds an effective interest of 91.81 per cent in Masirah Oil.