Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has acknowledged the need for a greater focus on technology within its upstream business, particularly in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and in the development sour gas reservoirs.
Underpinning this renewed commitment, it has joined the International Technology Facilitator (ITF), a not-for-profit organisation that advocates technology sharing and cooperation within the industry.
“Oil in Oman is becoming more challenging to develop with a rising number of EOR and sour (hydrogen sulphide) projects, so technology has a growing role to play,” said Sultan Al-Shidhani, study centre manager, PDO.
“We believe that collaborating on joint industry projects will help bring forward the technologies that can assist continued recovery.”
In the last 18 months, Oman has ramped up its oil production, reversing the decline seen over the past few years. Mohammed Al-Rumhi, Oman’s oil minister, said recently it planned to pump more than 900,000 bpd through 2012, having already pumped 894,000 bpd in December 2011, 7 per cent up on November and 100,000 bpd higher than the same period 2009.
Leveraging EOR technology, including steam- and water-flooding, is a significant factor in these production increases, along with innovations in producing the technically challenging and highly hazardous sour gas fields.
“We understand that operators are facing the prospect of increasingly complex projects and believe that ITF will play a major role in solving some of those challenges,” said Ryan McPherson, ITF’s regional director in the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
This latest cooperation commitment from PDO follows from ITF’s other recent signings with prominent GCC NOCs, including Saudi Aramco and Kuwait Oil Company.
Oil News | Middle East
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