A group led by Occidental Petroleum Corp. hopes to recover 1 billion bbl of heavy, viscous oil from Mukhaizna field in south-central Oman.
Oxy said it will implement a large-scale steamflood project at a cost of more than $2 billion to boost production to 150,000 b/d within a few years from 10,000 b/d at present. Mukhaizna, discovered by Petroleum Development Oman in 1975, began producing in mid-2000 (OGJ Online, May 6, 2005).
PDO said last fall it had plans to install an enhanced oil recovery project at Mukhaizna that would involve 1,800-2,200 new wells and begin boosting production in 2007 (OGJ Online, Aug. 27, 2004). At that time the field was operated by the Omani affiliate of Royal Dutch/Shell, which owns 34% of PDO.
In early 2005, however, the Sultanate of Oman decided to replace Shell as operator and in mid-July issued a Royal Decree approving a new production sharing contract. The PSC lists the project interests as Oxy operator with 45%, The Sultanate through Oman Oil Co. 20%, Shell Oman Trading Co. Ltd. 17%, Liwa Energy Ltd., an Abu Dhabi government investment company, 15%, Total E&P Oman 2%, and Partex (Oman) 1%.
Mukhaizna, 500 km southwest of Muscat, is judged to have 2.4 billion bbl of 16-18° gravity, highly viscous oil in place in Lower Permian Upper and Middle Gharif unconsolidated sandstones at 900 m. It is the sixth largest field discovered in Oman.
Oxy’s net production is 23,000 b/d of oil and 56 MMcfd of gas elsewhere in Oman, where it has operated since 1979. ✦
