British oil giant BP has awarded projects worth $3 billion since February this year for developing the Khazzan tight gas field in north-central Oman.
Oman government and BP have signed an agreement for the fullfield development of Block 61, with a total capital expenditure of $16 billion for drilling 300 wells, a gas-processing plant and related facilities.
"We are in action…we have already started drilling our first development well, building roads and designing buildings," Dave Campbell, vice-president of operations, BP Oman, told journalists on the sidelines of the ninth annual asset integrity management summit jointly organised by IQPC and Global Exhibitions and Conferences.
He said the company has also started mobilising rigs. "We have two rigs (at the concession area) and three rigs are arriving later this year."
Petrofac, an international oil and gas service provider, has been awarded a $1.2 billion-engineering, procurement and construction contract by BP for building the central processing facility (CPF) for the Khazzan gas project.
The gas processing facility, which is part of an overall development plan of block 61, will have a capacity to process one billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas per day, which is the anticipated production from gas-rich Khazzan and Makarem fields in the first phase.
The gas processing plant is expected to be completed in 2017, said Campbell.
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. bagged a contract from BP for process and infrastructure work on the green field Khazzan project.
Referring to the in-country-value initiatives of BP, he said the company is working on a strategy to pass on the business opportunities to small and medium enterprises and local contractors. BP has already awarded a contract for designing and building a water pipeline network to an Omani company.
The company has also started recruiting technicians for the project, who will be trained at BP's training facility.of $16 billion.
By A E James
