Bids for new oil, gas areas to be launched

Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) has announced that it is preparing to launch two new bid rounds in the first half of this year.

The ministry tweeted on Thursday that “The Ministry of Energy and Minerals is in the preparation process to offer a new batch of oil and gas concession areas by the end of Q1 2023.

“The bid round will target onshore blocks as Batch -1, which offers onshore blocks containing a mixture of tested producing wells, discovered areas, as well as prospects and leads.”

A second ‘Batch-2’ will focus on offshore blocks and is planned to be launched by the end of Q2, 2023.

In another tweet, also on Thursday, the ministry announced that it is in the preparation process to offer a new batch of mining concession areas in the first quarter of 2023.

This process would also include new concession areas targeting commodities like chromite, copper, limestone and others, the ministry added.

Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals signed a mining concession agreement with Knights Bay of Britain covering the mining concession rights to Block 21 in the Wilayat of Ibra in the Governorate of North A’Sharqiyah.

Under the agreement, the UK firm will extract nickel and its derivatives with high purity without any carbon emissions (zero carbon).

The agreement was signed by Eng Salim Nasser al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals, with Brian Spratley, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Knights Bay.
Dr Salah bin Hafeedh Al Dahab, Director General of Investment at the ministry, said this agreement comes in line with the government’s approach to allocate mining concession areas to develop investment in the mineral sector in the Sultanate of Oman.

This agreement is the first mining agreement with a foreign investor. He added that initial investments related to the exploration and appraisal phase are estimated at about US$25-30 million in the first three years, covering an area of 1,444 square kilometres.

In a statement to Oman News Agency (ONA), Dr Salah said this phase also includes geological surveys and the drilling of a number of exploratory and appraisal wells, as well as chemical analysis to confirm the quantities of mineral reserves according to approved international standards.

Through the agreement, Knights Bay will build, develop and process battery minerals (nickel and cobalt) in the Sultanate of Oman to meet the global demand for nickel through electric car manufacturers.

The signing ceremony of the agreement was attended by Mohsen Hamad Al Hadhrami, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, and the Chargés d’affaires of the British Embassy in Muscat.

(With inputs from ONA)