Oman on Wednesday signed two natural gas exploration and sales deals with oil giant BP PLC and Malaysia's Petronas, as the sultanate pushes ahead with a drive to diversify its crude oil-based economy with gas. The deal with BP gives the London-based company new exploration rights in Block 61 in the central part of the country, and includes a two-year provision in which BP would sell the gas to the Omani government. BP had signed a production-sharing agreement with Oman in 2007 to explore in 2,000 square kilometer block. According to BP's Web site, the area so far contains four gas reservoirs with an estimated 20 to 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The deal also includes a two-year provision in which BP would sell the gas to the Omani government. If new commercially viable gas deposits are found, the agreement with BP would be extended to 20 years, said Saleh bin Ali al-Anbouri, the head of the Omani Oil Ministry's investments authority. A similar exploration rights agreement was signed with Petronas, giving the Malaysian firm access to Block 63, a roughly 3,700 square kilometer region in the western part of the country. The agreement calls for Petronas to undertake seismic studies of the area as well as drilling several exploratory and development wells, Associated Press reported. Additional details were not revealed. Oman produced an average of 730,000 barrels per day of oil and natural gas liquids in 2008, according to a report released earlier this month by Washington-based energy consultancy, PFC Energy.
