@conradprabhu –
MUSCAT: Swedish-based international upstream energy firm Maha Energy says it is preparing to drill the first of six wells targeting a promising heavy oilfield named ‘Mafraq’ in its Block 70 license in central Oman.
According to Maha Energy CEO Jonas Lindvall (pictured), the proposed well-drilling programme is scheduled to begin during the second quarter of this year, which will mark the start of test production from the Block.
“A drilling rig has been selected and the drilling of six wells is scheduled to begin on the Mafraq field during the second quarter of 2022. Two appraisal wells will be drilled first to acquire important information such as the oil water contact, crude oil properties and cores of the producing interval. Additionally, four horizontal wells will be drilled and placed on extended well test production to evaluate water encroachment in the fractured limestone reservoir,” Lindvall stated in the company’s newly published 2021 Annual Reporter
Block 70, a relatively tiny onshore concession covering an area of 639 sq km, was awarded to Maha Energy as part of an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) signed with the Omani government in September 2020.
Originally part of the prolific Block 6 license of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which accounts for a dominant share of the country’s crude oil production, Block 70 is best known for its shallow and undeveloped Mafraq heavy oilfield.
Various studies put the black oil potential of the field at between 185 – 510 million barrels of original oil in place. Adding to its cost-competitive appeal is its potential to produce in normal conditions, without the need for capital-intensive thermal-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods typically prescribed for heavy oil production in general.
Significantly, Block 70 – the company’s first license in the Sultanate of Oman – will help shore up Maha Energy’s future reserves potential, according to the CEO. “The Mafraq field accounts for almost half our future oil volumes and if we can prove up the Oil Water Contact to where strong indications suggest it is, we are poised to deliver significant volumes of oil from Oman,” he said.
Besides the Sultanate of Oman, Maha Energy also has a presence in Brazil, Canada, USA and Sweden.