Five New Oil Blocks Up for Auction in Oman

Oman media outlets have reported that the country will be handing out new production-sharing agreements (PSAs) for a potential five oil blocks this fall.

Exact locations have not yet been released, but Omani officials have told reporters that the blocks are heavily weighted towards oil, but contain both oil and gas and are spread out geographically.

“There are a number of locations. We are evaluating few of them and in October we will go to the market. I would probably say an average of five, but we (may) have more or less, depending on the readiness of data collection and evaluation,” Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said, on the sidelines of a function organized by BP to honor small and medium enterprises, as reported by the Times of Oman.

With oil rebounding a bit to around $50 per barrel, the tender process looks more attractive for Oman than it would have a month ago, but it’s still a buyers’ market.

Related: Iran Betting On Oil And Copper To Fuel Growth

"We need to recognize that companies will be using lower oil production forecasts when they bid and to be smart enough to accept it today. Also, we have to introduce mechanisms in such a way that we gain from the deal when oil prices go up," the Times of Oman quoted Al Aufi as saying.

Oman is planning to produce at 900,000 barrels per day for 2016. Last year, it produced at 980,000 barrels per day. Approximately one-third of Oman’s production comes from private companies, both local and foreign.

By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

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