Petroleum Development Oman Sets New Production Record
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) on Sunday said it set a new combined oil, gas and condensate production record of 1.29 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2015.
The average daily oil production for 2015 was 588,937 bpd, the highest since 2005 and almost 14,000 bpd above the planned target, the company said in a statement published on its website. Gas production was 83 million m3/day, one million cubic metres above the planned target as the company stepped up its effort to meet growing national gas demand.
“With the sharp fall in global oil prices dominating our thoughts and deeds, I am pleased to be able to report that PDO still managed to surpass expectations right across the business,” managing director Raoul Restucci said.
PDO added significant reserves and contingent resources, in excess of annual production, in 2015. There was a substantial oil discovery at Sadad North in southern Oman amounting to 44.5 million barrels of commercial contingent reserves (CCRs), contributing to a total of 109 million barrels of CCRs from new discoveries. Additionally, there was a 2 percent rise in Stock Oil Initially In Place (STOIIP) to 67.8 billion barrels and a 4 percent increase in Gas Initially In Place (GIIP) to 78.2 trillion cubic feet (tcf).
On the gas supply front, the Mabrouk Southwest discovery, yielded 0.38 tcf of commercial contingent reserves. The field was discovered as a satellite to the Mabrouk field in the Barik and Miqrat reservoirs in the northern part of PDO’s Block 6 concession area. By the year’s end, the Tayseer gas field discovery in southern Oman further added in place volumes of 0.93 (tcf) of gas and 117 million barrels of condensate.
However, the company has decided to reduce expenditure in 2016.
“The current environment requires us to leave no stone unturned to boost near-term cash-flow and we have reduced 2016 expenditure by US$ 1.6 billion. We’ll continue to work with our contractors to identify further cost reduction opportunities and optimise expenditure in light of the country’s economic challenges,” Restucci said.