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Oman: PDO offers high-potential oil acreage for investment

MUSCAT: In a significant development, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) – the largest producer of oil and gas in the Sultanate of Oman – has invited Expressions of Interest (EoIs) from local and international operators in the development of a potentially hydrocarbon-rich field within its sprawling Block 6 license.

The majority state-owned national oil company announced in a post on Thursday, May 22, 2025, that a 130 km2 parcel of land, dubbed Area A, is being offered for investment and development in the Qarn Alam Cluster, within the prolific Ghaba Basin in northern Oman.

“This represents a strategic opportunity to access a discovered resource with more than 1 billion barrels of STOIIP (stock tank oil initially in place), located within Area-A, which spans over 130 km2. The area offers proximity to existing infrastructure and holds significant development potential,” PDO stated in its post.

Operators interested in the exploration, appraisal and development of Area-A have been invited to submit a letter confirming their willingness to participate in a competitive process, along with supporting documents to demonstrate their relevant experience. The deadline for submission of EoIs is June 5, 2025.

According to industry experts, the move is in line with PDO's broader strategy of engaging specialized operators to manage specific assets within its portfolio. Illustrative of this trend is the company’s decision in 2006 to partner with Indonesia's MedcoEnergi to operate the KSF cluster—a group of 18 small and mature oil fields located in southern Oman. This arrangement was designed to allow PDO to focus on its larger, core assets while leveraging MedcoEnergi's expertise to optimize production from these smaller fields.

Under the contract, MedcoEnergi assumed full operational responsibility, including exploration, drilling, and production activities, while PDO retained ownership of the hydrocarbons. The initial 10-year contract was extended in 2015 for an additional 25 years, running through 2040.

Another example is the Rima Cluster contract overseen by Daleel Petroleum and focusing on a group of mature oil fields located in south-central Oman. Like the Karim Small Fields, they require cost-efficient, focused, and flexible field development strategies.

While the above-mentioned examples are based essentially on ‘service contracts’, an eventual deal over the Area-A resource is anticipated to be on the lines of a broader partnership that also rewards the new player for its use of proprietary technology, if any, and other financial, tech, and performance inputs.

The Ghaba Basin, while contributing the mainstay of PDO’s oil and gas production, is characterized by complex structural traps and diverse reservoir types that require significant financial and technological wherewithal to unlock their hydrocarbon potential. International operators typically bring to the table cutting-edge technologies, proprietary tools, and specialized expertise in enhanced oil recovery (EOR), deep reservoir exploration, tight or complex geological structures, and digital oilfield integration and automation. By partnering with these players, PDO can accelerate the deployment of these technologies, thus reducing risk and improving recovery factors, experts add.