BP Oman’s gas project to start production by 2017

Muscat: BP Oman said that construction work of its Khazzan natural gas project is now 65 per cent complete and the first gas is expected in late 2017. The production from the field will eventually result in an increase of around 40 per cent to Oman’s natural gas supply.
“BP Oman’s work at Khazzan will make a huge contribution to Oman’s energy supply, improving both energy security and the county’s foundations for industrial diversification. This responsibility drives all of us to make sure the project delivered safely, on time and on budget. The passing of the 65 per cent completion milestone is a testament to our commitment and ability to achieve this,” said Yousulf Al Ojaili, president of BP Oman.
BP Oman is a lead partner in the project with a 60 per cent interest, while Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production holds 40 per cent.
BP’s technical expertise is instrumental in helping the country unlock the vast reserves of tight has, which are locked in deep, dense and extremely hard rock strata at Khazzan, in the south of Block 61. A head of agreement was recently signed with the Ministry of Oil and Gas to amend the Block 61 exploration and production sharing agreement, increasing the license area to enable a second stage of development. This adds a further over 1,000 square kilometres to the south and west of the original 2,700 square kilometres license area and will enable combined plateau production from phase 1 and 2 of the project to reach around 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day.
Around 11,000 jobs have been created in the development of Khazzan. Up to the fourth quarter of 2015, the in-country-value contribution was around 43 per cent of BP’s third party spend, which is equivalent to $516 million.
The company plans to drill 330 wells during the project lifetime. The whole project includes building gas processing plant, gathering systems, overheads and roads.
Omani businesses support Khazzan in a range of specialist areas including rig construction, pipeline and equipment manufacture. The proportion of Omanis working at BP Oman has risen to 72 per cent with a target of 90 per cent by 2020.
Safety is of paramount importance and the record since development started has been excellent. In 2015, BP Oman achieved over 20 million man-hours of work, and drive over 27 million kilometres without any loss time incidents.