US-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation recently announced that it has agreed to purchase all of British BP's interests in and assume operatorship of the exploration and production sharing contracts in Blocks 12 and 13 in Qatar, including the Al Rayyan oilfield, stated a press release. The contract’s terms were not disclosed.
In conjunction with this purchase, Anadarko will increase its planned 2002 investment in Qatar from $80 million to $102 million to increase production by installing a permanent production platform and drilling additional horizontal development wells in the Al Rayyan field on Block 12. Gross production is expected to increase from 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 35,000 bpd in early 2003 when the expansion project is completed.
Anadarko acquired a majority interest in these two blocks through the purchase of Gulfstream Resources Canada in 2001. With this latest transaction, Anadarko increased its working interest from 65 percent to 92.5 percent. Preussag Energie, a German company, holds the remaining 7.5 percent interest in the blocks.
"One of the main reasons for the Gulfstream purchase was to give us a presence in the Middle East that we could grow, and this will help us do that," said Anadarko president and chief executive officer, John Seitz. "We have a lot of unexplored acreage in Qatar that we'll be evaluating over the next few years. Block 13 contains about 180,000 unexplored acres, and Block 12, where Al Rayyan is located, contains another 19,000 acres that are still prospective for exploration” he added.
Anadarko reported average daily production of 553,000 barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of 2002. The company carries out operations in the United States, Canada, Algeria, Venezuela and Qatar. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
