On 14 November 2017, Qatar Petroleum (QP) entered into an agreement to acquire a 30% participating interest in Eni SpA's exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for the 90,760 sq km Block 52 (Juzor Al Hallaniyyat) offshore Sultanate of Oman. Eni initially signed an agreement to operate the block (through its subsidiary Eni Oman B.V.) with an 85% interest, Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production LLC (OOCEP) (a subsidiary of Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. (OOC)) holding the remaining 15%. QP subsequently signed a secondary agreement to acquire the 30% interest in Block 52 from Eni, subject to the consent of the competent authorities of the Sultanate of Oman.  Background information The signing ceremonies were held in Muscat on 14 November 2017. They were attended by Oman Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhi, OOC CEO Isam Al Zadjali, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, and QP President and CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi. Commenting on the occasion, Mr Al-Kaabi stated: âI would like to thank the Sultanate of Oman, the Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman and Oman Oil Company for their trust and support. We are proud to have this opportunity to participate in the exploration and development of the oil and gas resources in the Sultanate of Oman. This agreement represents a stepping-stone towards further mutually rewarding opportunities, where we hope that our cooperation will bring benefits to all involved especially to the Omani oil and gas sector and the people of Omanâ. He added: âWe are very pleased to enter into this agreement with our valued partner Eni, with whom we enjoy a close business relationship, which we aspire to strengthen further. I would like to thank the executives of Eni, Oman Oil and Qatar Petroleum and their respective teams who contributed to this important milestone,â Mr. Al-Kaabi concluded. Block 52, which is largely underexplored, is located in water depths ranging from 10 meters to over 2,000 meters. The Contractor parties will soon embark upon executing an exploration program involving the acquisition and processing of 3D seismic, which will be followed by exploration drilling. Eni is the designated Operator of the block, through its subsidiary Eni Oman B.V.â Circle Oil Plc (Circle) was the previous operator and 100% interest holder in what was a 61,440 sq km Block 52 offshore concession. It had originally signed a nine year EPSA with MOG in September 2005, but following a contract extension, it felt compelled to announce its intention to relinquish the acreage on 1 June 2015 after failing to attract partners to share the risk of an exploration drilling campaign. Circle had shot and processed an initial 5,026 km marine 2D commitment survey by 1Q 2011. In November 2014 it reported that the results of a new nearshore 2D seismic survey acquired during 1H 2014 had confirmed the presence of shallow water prospects and that it had added a fourth prospect to its Block 52 portfolio. Â  Block 52 is located off the southeast coast of Oman and remains underexplored. It currently encompasses acreage formerly assigned to the 18,973 sq km Sawqirah Bay Offshore Block 23 and 3,396 sq km Sawqirah Coast Offshore Block 24. Both blocks had been open for some years, but were withdrawn when the Oman Government signed a six-year agreement with Spectrum Energy and Information Technology Limited to 'acquire, improve and market' offshore geophysical data to the east and southeast of the country from Ras Al Hadd in the Dhofar Governate down to the Yemen border on 28 April 2003. The Spectrum project with the MOG was terminated during 2H 2004, after the company had reprocessed 6,440 km of existing 2D data, much of which had been acquired by previous operators of the shallow water Sawqirah Bay acreage. Previous interest holders to parts of the acreage currently encompassed by the sizable block include Amoco, and Petroleum Development Oman LLC. Once the revised EPSA is formally approved, the co-venture group will consist of Eni (operator, 55%), QP (30%) and OOCEP (15%).
Qatar Petroleum (QP) has acquired a 30% interest in block 52 (Juzor Al Hallaniyyat), a 90760kmÂ² largely-unexplored unit, WD=10-2000m, from Eni (55%, Oman Oil 15%). 