Oman Oil to sell 10% of Khazzan gasfield

Oman Oil Company is seeking to sell a 10% stake in the giant Khazzan gasfield, one of the country’s largest hydrocarbons assets.

The company is in talks with companies from India, China and the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

The stake is estimated to be worth at least USD 1 billion and bids are expected by July, the sources said.

The gasfield is under development as part of the Khazzan and Makarem gasfields project, in which BP holds 60%, with Oman Oil’s upstream arm, OOCEP, holding the remaining 40%. Total investment in developing the project has been pegged at USD 16 billion.

Located in Oman’s Block 61, the field is part of the largest accumulation of tight gas discovered to date in the Middle East.

In September 2017, BP announced it had brought the first gas train associated with the project on stream, with production standing at 14.2 mcm (500 mcf) per day. A second train to come on stream in 2018 will bring output to 28.3 mcm (1 bcf) per day, completing the project’s first phase.

In April, BP signed on to develop the second phase of the project, which will encompass the newly defined Ghazeer area of Block 61.