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PDO on track to hit crude oil production of 550,000bpd

MUSCAT - Petroleum Development Oman, or PDO, the sultanate’s leading oil and gas company, on Monday reiterated it was on track to achieve the targeted crude output of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the next ten years despite a marginal fall in production in 2011.

Production last year totalled 549,280 bpd, compared with 553,000 bpd in 2010, a decline of about one per cent, attributed to work stoppages mainly caused by strikes and protests earlier in the year.

Raoul Restucci, managing director PDO, speaking at an annual Press briefing, said the company’s combined production of oil, gas and condensate in 2011 stood at 1.2 barrels of oil equivalent per day which, he stressed, was the second highest production on record.

“The high level of drilling and engineering activity has paid off and, for the fourth successive year, combined production of oil, condensate and gas has increased,” he said.

Restucci said daily oil and condensate production in 2011 reached 549,280 and 93,600 barrels respectively, and non-associated and associated gas production 463,000 and 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

PDO accounts for more than 70 per cent of the sultanate’s crude oil production and nearly all of its natural-gas supply. It is owned by the government of Oman (60 per cent), the Shell Group (34 per cent), Total (four per cent) and Partex (two per cent).

Restucci said achieving long-term production targets focused on maximising recovery from conventional oil and gas fields and increasingly exploring for unconventional opportunities.

“In this respect, 2011 provided to be a very special year for PDO in that we secured strong reserves replacement ratios in excess of our production for both oil and gas, but we also identified new unconventional opportunities that are expected to provide longer-term sustainability and growth to PDO’s production plans,” he added.

He particularly mentioned the emergence of unconventional tight oil and basin centred gas opportunities.

Also, field development and recovery optimisation studies added 266 million barrels of oil reserves and 1 tcf of gas reserves, he said, adding: “Thanks to industry leading EOR work, fields like Marmul, on stream for more than 30 years, were now producing at their highest ever rate, while new stream projects in Qarn Alam and miscible sour gas injection in Harweel, would underpin key production delivery in 2012.”

ravindranath@khaleejtimes.com