Oman, the biggest Middle East oil producer outside OPEC, awarded France's Total and Thailand's PTTEP rights to explore and develop non-associated gas deposits in the sultanate, which is ramping up exploration and development of gas resources.
Oman's Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed al-Rumhy signed the exploration and production sharing agreement for Block 12, which spans 9,546 square kilometers in central Oman, the ministry said Wednesday, S&P Global reported.
Total will be operator of the block and hold an 80% stake, with the rest held by PTTEP.
Last year, Italy's Eni and BP Oman won rights to explore for oil and gas in Block 77 and Shell Oman was granted rights to Block 55.
Oman, which currently produces around 3 billion cubic feet of gas/day, is ramping up exploration and undertaking multi-billion dollar projects to monetize gas from the Mabrouk field that was discovered in 2018. Total and Shell are conducting downstream and upstream projects in Mabrouk that could cost more than $20 billion.
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