Oil firm Masirah Oil, a subsidiary of Rex International, has said it has completed its program near the Yumna Field, in the Arabian Sea, offshore Oman. The campaign included two development wells and three exploration wells.
The first prospect, Zakhera, was drilled 11 kilometers south of the Yumna Field. The target reservoir came in on depth with good oil shows encountered but the sand quality was poor, Masirah said.
Yumna East was drilled three kilometers east of the Yumna Field. Good quality sands were encountered in the target reservoir. However, the reservoir was water-filled. The third prospect, Yumna North, was drilled six kilometers to the north of the Yumna Field. This too encountered good quality reservoir sands as prognosed but the reservoir was water-filled, Masirah said.
"The results confirmed the extent of the good quality Lower Aruma sandstone and will help refine [Masirah's] understanding of the trap mechanisms in the area.
"Notably, major cost savings were achieved by drilling five wells in one campaign. The exploration wells were drilled for about US$3.5 million each, equivalent to less than US$1,700 per meter. Cost-effective drilling will greatly help [Masirah Oil] to further de-risk additional exploration prospects, enabling [Masirah Oil] to continue to pursue an active exploration program in Block 50 Oman.
Masirah Oil further said it had upgraded the liquid capacity of its production facilities to 30,000 barrels per day to cater to the
increased production from the three Yumna production wells, following the successful drilling of two Yumna field development wells.
"The three wells were tested steadily over a week at rates of 20,000 barrels of oil per day in March 2021 and the production rate has since then been optimized in accordance with the reservoir management plan, aimed at maximizing recovery from the Yumna field," Masirah Oil said.
Dan Broström, Executive Chairman of Rex, Masirah Oil's parent company said: “Our experienced Oman team is to be commended
for completing the five-well drilling program without incident, ahead of schedule and cost-effectively. We will now study the well results in detail to prepare for the next exploration drilling so that we can unlock the potential that we are confident the 17,000-square-kilometre block holds.
"Now that the production facilities have been upgraded, we will continue to concentrate on our sustained production from the Yumna Field. In 2020, gross production was approximately 2.12 million barrels from one well. With three producing wells and upgraded infrastructure, we hope to produce
substantially more in 2021. We aim to announce production achieved on a monthly basis going forward.”