Publications

The South Oman Small Field (SOSF) Asset, with a total area of 745 km2, features high-density small-sized oil fields having cumulatively produced ~30 MMBOE of oil since production began in the late 1980s. In 2016, a new exploration contract was awarded to Medco Energi to assess new opportunities in relation to Near-Field Exploration (NFE). In the first five years of the exploration campaign, seven wells were drilled with a relatively low success rate of 40%. Since 2021, after the completion of a regional study, a 100% exploration success rate has been achieved by applying the cluster-oriented Play-Based Exploration (PBE) method in combination with new 3D seismic Wide Azimuth (WAZ) data.

A strategic exploration business process has been implemented in a regional basin prospectivity study in the SOSF mature basin. The process comprises of :
1) Data evaluation and regional framework (Option Stage),
2) Play-Based Exploration (PBE) study (Selection Stage),
3) Cluster-oriented and selective high-grade prospect maturation (Definition Stage) and
4) Drilling, formation data acquisition and completion (Execution Stage).

The cluster-oriented PBE method emphasizes the evaluation of smaller-focused study areas to be inline with a compact team and a concise timeline.

Results from the last three years of the exploration campaign have been beyond expectations. The aggregate mean of oil in place from 3 discovery structures has yielded a total of ~55 million barrel of oil (MMBO). New production from these fields is projected to increase daily oil production by up to 12% of total company production by the end of 2024. Furthermore, the 6 years of production forecast are estimated to yield a total of ~7 MMBO of cumulative production. The cluster-oriented PBE method has been demonstrated to be a great success. The replication of this method for selecting upcoming exploration wells can be implemented in any mature assets, which will impact project cycle acceleration and improve exploration success ratio.