Total awarded onshore gas license in Oman

French major Total has been awarded an exploration license in Block 12 in Oman with significant prospective gas resources.

Total said on Monday that it would finalize an exclusive and definitive agreement with Oman’s ministry of oil and gas in the coming months.

It would grant the company a 100 percent working interest and operatorship of exploration Block 12 in central Oman.

The new agreement was signed after Total and the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Oman Oil Company (OOC) reached a milestone in the development of the gas resources on the Greater Barik area (Blocks 10 and 11) as well as building and operating a liquefaction plant to offer bunkering service and supply LNG as fuel to marine vessels.

Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total, said, “After the agreement reached on the integrated gas project of the Greater Barik area, the entry into exploration Block 12 represents a new exploration opportunity to unlock additional gas potential and to contribute to income growth and job creation in the country.”

Spread over 10,000 km2, Block 12 is located onshore, in the northern part of Block 6 and to the south of the Greater Barik area (including Mabrouk North East and Mabrouk West fields).

Total’s exploration program on the block will comprise seismic acquisition and drilling commitments, with the drilling of the first well in 2020.

In Oman, Total’s production was 38,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2018. Total holds 4% interest in the onshore Block 6, operated by Petroleum Development Oman, as well as in the Oman LNG (5.54%) and Qalhat LNG (2.04%).