Page 14 - MEOG Week 22 2021

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

operations. It plans to double its LNG sales gas in Oman since 1986, and the company’s exploration work that the company will
within a decade, from the current 35mn Vice President of Exploration and Production, undertake in Oman,” Lindvall revealed.
tonnes per year to 50mn tpy by 2025 and Jamie McKeown, has overseen the drilling “However, during the early stages, the
70mn tpy by 2030. However, it will seek to of and production from many offshore and company will contribute to the Oman
decarbonise its gas operations somewhat onshore wells since the mid-80s. economy by purchasing local goods and
through the use of biogas, hydrogen and “Maha’s philosophy is to acquire existing services. “In the event the field generates
carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. hydrocarbon assets and increase value by commercial amounts of oil, we hope to
The major’s oil and gas operations will applying modern hydrocarbon recovery expand its operations in the country to
help bankroll significant investments in green technologies,” said Lindvall. “As such, Maha such an extent it can become a significant
energy. It wants to expand investments in is more of an engineering-based production employer,” he added.
renewables and general power from $2bn to and exploration company, rather than the Block 70 is an onshore block that includes
$3bn annually, so that they represent more traditional exploration and production the shallow undeveloped Mafraq heavy oil
than 20% of its total capital spending. company. field. The block is in the middle of the prolific
The company is targeting 50 TWh of net “The initial plan is to further define and oil producing Ghaba Salt Basin in the central
power generation and 80 TWh of sales by appraise the field so that it can be brought part of Oman. The Mafraq oil field was
2025 from gas-fired power and renewables. on production in due course,” he added. discovered by Petroleum Development Oman
It is striving to become a “world leader” in “Secondly the company plans on drilling (PDO) in 1988 and was further delineated by
renewables, with plans to have 35 GW of gross further exploration wells in the area. To that four wells and 3D seismic activity in stages
capacity in operation by 2025. It will add 10 extent, the company is embarking on defining until 2010.
GW per year beyond that point. the existing seismic data to generate prospects Two wells were placed on pump
The rebranding follows a similar move by to drill.” production tests, of which one was placed
Norway’s Equinor, which in 2018 changed its “According to initial estimates from on an extended test in order to prove long
name from Statoil. Countless other oil and gas previous work done in the area, Maha term productivity. The block covers an area
producers have rebranded themselves over estimates there is about 20 to 25 million of 639 sq.km and is covered by both 2D
the past year, typically replacing the word “oil” barrels recoverable from the Mafraq field and 3D seismic data that has been acquired
with “energy”. alone,” explained Lindvall. by previous operators, and has been made
NEWSBASE Oman aside, Maha Energy – whose origins available to Maha. Eight wells have been
are in Canada – also has assets in two other drilled within the block boundary, five of
countries: in the US, it oversees the Illinois which are on the Mafraq oil field.
OIL basin that straddles the states of Illinois and TIMES OF OMAN
Indiana, and the LAK Ranch in Wyoming. It
Up to 25mn barrels oil to operates two other fields in Brazil: Tie field Broker says Iran may have
in Bahia, and Tartaruga in Aracaju. Located
be extracted from Mafraq in the interior of Oman, Block 70 in Mafraq floating stash of oil at sea
represents their latest acquisition.
oilfield colleague Ron Panchuk, the upstream oil A London-based broker has reportedly
Founded in 2013 by Lindvall and former
estimated that Iran may have a floating stash
Between 20 and 25 million barrels of oil can company has increased its output from 900 of 69mn barrels of oil on tankers at sea that
be recovered from the Mafraq Block 70 oil barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) it would try to dispatch to buyers as soon as
field in Oman, says the company tasked with to 4,100 BOEPD, since it was first listed on feasible should Tehran and Washington agree
its extraction. Sweden’s Nasdaq Stockholm First North on a revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that
Swedish oil and gas company Maha Energy Growth Market in 2016. In December would lift key US sanctions on the Islamic
plans on investing $20 million (about OMR 2020, Maha’s listing moved to the Nasdaq Republic.
8 million) into the field, with its initial efforts Stockholm main market. Bloomberg quoted Richard Matthews,
involving precise mapping of the area, before The company has plans to quadruple head of research at E.A. Gibson Shipbrokers
embarking on an aggressive drilling strategy. its energy production once again, over the Ltd, a broker that traces its history back to the
Although this might be Maha’s first foray coming four years, with Oman a key part of its 19th century, as saying it was hard to be sure
into Oman, its top management are no expansion plans. exactly how big the floating stockpile really is
strangers to Oman’s oil and gas setup. CEO “Initially there will be limited job because it’s unclear exactly how many ships
Jonas Lindvall has been involved in oil and opportunities generated through the are being used and how full they are.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 22 02•June•2021