Oman puts three oil and gas blocks back up for exploration

According to a Feb. 3 post on its LinkedIn page, Oman has put three previously explored blocks back up for auction as it seeks investment to exploit potential oil and gas resources onshore.

The Gulf country's drive to boost oil and gas production capacity has spurred multiple concession auctions, the last of which was announced in September 2024.

Exploration licenses have been awarded for Blocks 66, 43A and 36 before, but companies have largely failed to find hydrocarbon reserves. An analyst said the concession blocks are large and additional exploration could prove successful.

The analyst added that wells must be drilled deeper than those for conventional oil and gas when searching for unconventional resources. Oman is home to the unconventional Khazzan tight gas field, operated by BP in Block 61.

The ministry could not be reached for comment.

Block 66, which sits on the country's oil-rich border with Saudi Arabia, was awarded to Hungary's MOL in 2012. However, the firm applied to relinquish its rights to the block in 2020, and it was included in a 2021 bidding round.

Two wells within the 4,989 square-kilometer Block 66 had previously been explored in 2015 and 2016, but the Maisoorah 1 well was found to be water bearing and the Husna 1 well was dry.

Block 36 has similarly been explored before, with Allied Petroleum Exploration awarded the block in 2011. While DNO International drilled the Hayah-1 well in 2016 that showed no presence of hydrocarbons, the company farmed out of the block in early 2017, leaving 100% interest to APEX, who subsequently relinquished the block.

Most recently, American oil company EOG Resources signed an exploration and production sharing agreement for Block 36 in 2020 but exited in 2022 after finding small hydrocarbon reserves not large enough to pursue.

Situated onshore, Block 36 covers an area of 18,556 square kilometers in the South Oman Salt Basin on the country's border with Yemen and was also included in a bid round in March 2023.

Back in mid-2006, UK-based Indago Petroleum was awarded an exploration license in Block 43A. In 2007, Indago sold half its share in the block to the UAE's RAK Petroleum, and its contract for the block expired in 2009.

The 2,923 square-kilometer block in the Buraimi area is nestled on Oman's border with the UAE and went back up for auction again in 2012 and 2014.

The ministry has previously said about 50 concession blocks are already operated by more than 20 operators across 300 oil and gas fields.

Oman is the largest Arab oil producer outside of OPEC, though it is a member of the wider OPEC+ alliance. It pumped 760,000 b/d in December 2024, in line with its OPEC+ quota of 759,000 b/d, according to the latest Platts OPEC+ Survey from S&P Global Commodity Insights.