Muscat. The Ministry of Oil and Gas has announced that it is in the process of granting licences to develop five areas of excellence for exploration and production after it ended negotiations with international oil companies. Dr Zayed Khamis al Siyabi, General Manager of exploration and production in the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said “we are waiting for some approvals from other government agencies expected to be signed in the coming days”.

He did not mention the names of qualified companies, saying only that one of them is currently operating in the Sultanate, while the other four are international companies working in the oil industry in the Sultanate for the first time.

With the establishment of the new concession areas to the qualified companies, the number of companies operating in the field of oil and gas in the Sultanate will increase to 26.

He explained that the concession areas that will be awarded include two offshore areas number 40 and 50 (in the governorate of Musandam and Al Wusta region, respectively), and two areas in the south of the Sultanate number 36 and 38 and the fifth No 42, which extends from Muscat to al- Sharqiya region.

He pointed out that the Ministry also put forward last month a tender for the development of three other areas of excellence, which are the area 66 near Sahma Field, 67 and 39 that lie close to producing fields in the south. It is currently waiting for offers from companies to study and then negotiate with the companies.

The ministry is making efforts to boost the production of oil and gas,which has increased in recent years, pointing out that the policy of the ministry aims to reduce the cost of production using modern technologies. The average rate of production of oil and condensate oil during the past nine months was 860.075 thousand barrels per day.