Oman Officially Inaugurates Abu Butabul Tight Gas Field

Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) on Thursday officially opened the tight gas field in Abu Butabul and a state-of-the-art processing plant, reported Times of Oman.

The Abu Butabul gas processing plant was commissioned on September 23, 2014, while production and export of gas started in November 2014

The newspaper added that the company has exported 27 MMscfd of natural gas from its newly developed block 60 tight gas field in Abu Butabul in Oman, Times of Oman reported Friday. The company has also exported 2,500 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate.

OOCEP has so far invested $1.3 billion for developing the field, a processing plant, and other related pipeline facilities and the total investment in the present phase will reach $2.5 billion once the remaining work is completed. 

Gas and condensate output from the field would gradually reach 70 MMscfd and 6,000bpd, respectively, by the middle of this year, Salem bin Zahir Al Sibani, chief executive officer of OOCEP, said.

Abu Butabul, also known as Block 60, is spread over 1,500 sq km and is 100 per cent owned and operated by OOCEP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oman Oil Company, which is the Oman government's investment arm in the energy sector. 

The newly built gas processing plant has a capacity to treat 90 MMscfd of gas, 6,000 bpd of condensates and 2,000 bpd of water.