Petroleum Development Oman ( PDO ), the country's flagship oil and gas company, has projected a capital expenditure of a mammoth $30 billion over the next 10 years, according to high-ranking official.
Amran Marhubi, PDO 's Technical Director, said the outlay was critical to the majority-government owned company's goal of sustaining hydrocarbon production over the long-term. "Without (capital investment), we wouldn't be standing still, never mind grow. And PDO is no different," he noted.
In its endeavor to sustain oil and gas output, the company has assembled a portfolio of around 600 projects that are slated for implementation over the next 10 years, he said. Capital expenditure planned by PDO over the next five years is estimated at $16 billion, doubling to nearly $30 billion over the next 10 years, he added.
Of the many projects in the pipeline, three "mega-projects" are set to play a pivotal role in the company's efforts to bolster output. At roughly $1 – 1.5 billion apiece, these projects are due to progress towards a Final Investment Decision over the next two years. These projects will help contribute nearly 200,000 barrels per day of "new oil" that will help offset the natural decline of oil production, Marhubi said.
Significantly, many of PDO 's large-scale projects will involve "groundbreaking" enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques, such as steam injection, chemical injection, and sour gas injection, he said, adding: "It is no idle boast that by the end of this decade PDO will be a world leader in EOR."
Of late, much of PDO 's focus has been on delivering new projects as the company moves to aggressively embrace EOR technologies to maintain production in the face of declining output from maturing fields.
" PDO 's ability to continue delivering oil and gas at the sustainable levels it has set itself depends on the successful execution of a steady stream of major new oil and gas projects," the company stated in its 2011 Annual Report.
"In fact, the Company needs to bring on stream at least one major new project a year if it is to continue achieving its long-term oil production target of 540,000 to 560,000 barrels per day. In addition to completing the Qarn Alam Steam project, PDO in 2011 delivered 18 mid-sized projects. At present, the Company has 750 million barrels of hydrocarbon resources under development across a number of major and large projects in the execution phase," it added.
Oman Daily Observer
12 October
