Two new oil discoveries in Oman Blocks 3&4

HYDROCARBON BOOST: Drilling successes bode well for discovery of new oilfields

Swedish based international oil firm Tethys Oil has announced two new hydrocarbon finds in Block 3 & 4 in the eastern part of Oman — discoveries that could potentially translate into new oil fields, the Stockholmheadquartered company said.

It follows the successful completion and testing of the exploration well Ulfa-1 which flowed oil to the surface in the second quarter of this year, Magnus Nordin, Managing Director, said in the company’s half-yearly report.

“Together with the exploration well Erfan-1, drilled in the first quarter and appraised in the second, we now have two new discoveries. Depending on the ongoing appraisal and evaluation process, these discoveries have the potential to turn into new oil fields on Blocks 3&4. If so, we are looking at the first new fields since 2013,” Nordin stated.

Tethys Oil AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Tethys Oil Block 3 & 4 Ltd, has a 30 per cent interest in Blocks 3&4. Partners are Mitsui E&P Middle East BV with 20 per cent, with operator CC Energy Development SAL (Oman branch) owning the balance 50 per cent.

Additionally, Farha South — which along with Saiwan East and Shahd oilfields account for the bulk of Blocks 3&4’s output averaging 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) — continued to show further promise, according to the Managing Director.

“In addition to the two new, previously undrilled, fault blocks that were drilled and found to be oil bearing in the first quarter, we successfully drilled another previously undrilled fault block in the second quarter,” he said.

In all, a total of 12 wells were drilled on Blocks 3&4 in Q2 2017. They included one exploration well, appraisal and production wells and wells for water injection.

Production aggregated 1.135 million barrels in the second quarter of this year, in trend with output recorded during the previous quarter. Going forward, and with Oman committing to Opec’s extended production cut until the end of Q1 2018, daily average production from Blocks 3&4 will largely mirror production averages recorded during the first half of 2017.

“With the recent exploration success and the ongoing optimisation in the existing fields we remain confident that once the production limitations are lifted, we will be able to increase our production on very short notice,” the Managing Director noted.

Commenting on the outlook for Tethy Oil’s business growth, Nordin added: “Tethys Oil stands strong. We are producing at record levels, and even though we cannot raise our production and use our full production potential at the moment, we continue to grow.

Our new discoveries and potentially new oil fields, Erfan and Ulfa, combined with continued appraisal and production drilling on all producing fields as well as our large inventory of undrilled prospects provides us with a solid platform for continued growth. We remain confident, that the production capacity on Blocks 3&4 have increased and that we will be capable of a daily production rate above the average achieved so far this year, once the current production limitations are lifted.”