Tethys Oil Secures Nod to Develop Oman’s Block 56

Tethys Oil, the Swedish energy firm listed on Stockholm Exchange, received approval from Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals to proceed with the Field Development Plan (FDP) for onshore Block 56 and the company will start work in 2025.

Block 56 covers an area of approximately 5,808 sq. km. in South Eastern Oman. Although some 10 wells have been drilled on the block that encountered oil or oil shows, none had been determined to be commercial.

With the approval of the FDP, Block 56 has been declared commercial, and its Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) has been extended by 20 years until 2044. The approved plan includes the development of the Al Jumd, Menna and Sarha discoveries as well as further exploration potential with several leads and prospects.

Tethys Oil Managing Director Magnus Nordin said that the approval of the Block 56 FDP has been a great milestone for his company and its partners, and they were now looking forward to, over the coming years, delivering on the potential in the block.

Tethys operates Block 56 with a 65% interest. Its block partners are Biyaq Oilfield Services (25%), Medco Arabia (5%) and Libyan oilfield services company Intaj (5%).

The FDP and Declaration of Commerciality are the first of their kinds for the Group as an operator and they constitute a significant milestone for Tethys Oil and the Block 56 partnership.

The Partner Group for Block 56 consists of Tethys Oil as the operator with a 65% share, and other partners include Omani oilfield services company Biyaq Oilfield Services with a 25% share, Saudi industrial equipment provider Medco Arabia Limited and Libyan Oil Field company Intaj LLC, each with a 5% share.

Block 56 Location                                                            

Block 56 lies at the intersection of different geological provinces including the prolific South Oman Salt Basin. It offers exploration potential in multiple play concepts, both proven and unproven, many of which are familiar to Tethys Oil from its current operations in the country.

Tethys Oil’s focus on Block 56 has been divided between, primarily appraisal, activities in the Al Jumd area in the north-western part of the Block and exploration activities in the central area further to the south.

In early 2022, Tethys Oil drilled the horizontal Al Jumd-2 with positive results and an initial flowrate of some 700 barrels of oil per day, confirming the company’s model of the discovery.

Following the positive results, the discovery’s appraisal programme was expanded by an additional two wells, Al Jumd-3 and -4, in the third quarter 2022. In total, Al Jumd-2, -3 and -4 are targeting the structure’s north-western, north-eastern and southern areas respectively and cover a significant portion of the discovery.