Masirah Oil spuds second development well in Oman

Exploration and production company Masirah Oil has started drilling a second development well in the Yumna field, located offshore Oman, using the Shelf Drilling-owned Tenacious jack-up rig.

Masirah Oil holds a 100 per cent interest in the Block 50 Oman concession. Rex International holds an effective interest of 86.37 per cent in Masirah Oil.

The Tenacious rig won a contract from Masirah to drill two development wells and one exploration well in Block 50 Oman in November 2020.

The rig’s previous contract, with Dubai Petroleum, was completed in September 2020.

Masirah announced the start of drilling operations on the Yumna-2 development well on Monday, 14 December 2020.

The third development well will be drilled back-to-back with Yumna 2, Masirah Oil added.

According to the company, the three production wells in the Yumna field have been positioned to optimally drain the reservoir and maximise recovery.

A wildcat exploration well is also planned during the drilling campaign to evaluate one of the nearby lookalike prospects.

The drilling campaign is expected to last for 90 days, after which the rig will be released.

Masirah Oil’s field development plan (FDP) for the Yumna field was approved by Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas in July 2020.

The Ministry also awarded the Declaration of Commerciality (DOC), enabling Masirah Oil to fully develop the Yumna field while continuing to explore the rest of Block 50 offshore east Oman.

By July, the Yumna 1 well produced more than one million barrels of oil, by producing over 8,000 barrels of oil per day through a one-inch choke with around 30 bar flowing tubing-head pressure.

The first three cargoes of Masirah crude were lifted and sold in April, May, and June 2020. Liftings were successfully completed from the first offshore ship-to-ship transfers in Oman.

A Mobile Offshore Production Unit (MOPU), which was installed in the Yumna field during a planned three-week shut-down earlier this year, together with an Aframax storage tanker, now constitute the permanent offshore production facilities on the field.