BP signs gas deal in Oman

Source: Daily Mail, LondonDec.存倉 17--BP has signed a pounds sterling 10bn deal to develop Oman's vast 'tight' gas reserves, in a 30-year partnership it hopes will convince other resource-rich countries of its technological prowess.The agreement will see BP drill 300 wells in the Khazzan field over 15 years, with the first gas predicted to flow in 2017 before reaching a peak of one billion cubic feet per day.BP's 60pc stake in Block 61 of Khazzan means the company will spend about pounds sterling 6bn to develop Oman's gas reserves.The British firm has also agreed a production sharing and gas sales agreement to last for a further 15 years after the first development phase.Oman has huge reserves of 'tight' gas, which is similar to shale gas in that it is trapped within rocks that are not very porous.Like shale gas, it can be extracted using hydraulic fracturing, colloquially known as fracking, a technique that has met with furious protests in the UK over its perceived environmental dangers.BP already produces tight gas in the US, but is hoping to use the Oman deal as an opportunity to showcase new technology for extraction.'This enables BP to bring to Oman the experience it has built up in tight gas production over many decades,' said boss Bob Dudley. BP believes that the partnership with Oman will make it the obvious partner for other governments hoping to exploit reserves of tight gas, which requires specific technical expertise to exploit.For the Middle Eastern sultanate, the tie-up offers the chance to increase its gas production by up to 30pc, to meet the needs of a growing energy-hungry population.The investment decision is among the largest taken by Dudley, who was drafted in to succeed gaffe-prone former boss Tony Hayward after t儲存e 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.The American has already signed a pounds sterling 17bn partnership with Russia's Rosneft that gives BP 20pc of the energy giant and first refusal on a host of projects that could include Arctic offshore drilling.Dudley also sealed a deal to team up with India's Reliance to invest pounds sterling 6bn in developing oil and gas on the subcontinent.These big ticket deals have helped paint a more positive picture of BP's future, with the final cost of the Gulf of Mexico disaster as yet unknown.The oil supermajor has estimated its costs at about pounds sterling 26bn, but a court decision expected early next year could see costs soar if BP is slapped with the highest possible environmental penalties.The company's medium-term prospects in the stock market are heavily dependent on the outcome of the deliberations of Judge Carl Barbier in a New Orleans court.In the meantime, BP's share price is languishing well below the pounds sterling 6.54 level it reached the day before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 crewmen. Its shares were up 7.5p yesterday to close at 473.2p and have risen more than 11pc this year.Separately, Amnesty International urged foreign minister William Hague to address Azerbaijan's 'appalling' human rights record when he visits tomorrow to discuss an oil pipeline in which BP is among the major investors.'When the Foreign Secretary goes there, he should be making sure that the deal on the table is not limited to gas and profit,' said Amnesty's policy chief Allan Hogarth.'He should be seeking guarantees on human rights.'Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Daily Mail (London, ) Visit the Daily Mail (London, ) at .dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉