Muscat – Oman’s government is in the preparation process to offer two new batches of onshore and offshore oil and gas concession areas during the first half of this year.

‘The Ministry of Energy and Minerals is in the preparation process to offer new batch of oil and gas concessions areas by the end of the first quarter of 2023. This bid round will target onshore blocks as Batch-1,’ the Ministry of Energy and Minerals said in a tweet on Thursday.

Some of these blocks (in Batch-1) include a mixture of tested producing wells, discovered areas, as well as prospects and leads, the ministry added.

Additionally, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals will also offer Batch-2 blocks which will focus on selected offshore blocks by the end of the second quarter of 2023, the ministry added in its announcement on Twitter.

The ministry also announced its intention to offer 2023 Oman Mining Bid Round in the first quarter of 2023.

‘Ministry of Energy and Minerals is in the preparation process to offer new batch of mining concession areas in the first quarter of 2023. This will include concession areas targeting commodities like chromite, copper, limestone and others,’ it said.

Last year, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals had informed that Oman’s total estimated reserves of crude oil and condensates increased by four per cent to reach 4.876bn barrels at the end of 2021 in comparison with expected reserves recorded in the previous year. According to the ministry data, total reserves of natural gas in Oman were estimated at 23tn cubic feet at the end of 2021.

Oman’s average daily production of crude oil and condensates exceeded 1.06mn barrels per day (bpd) for the full year 2022, up by 9.6 per cent in comparison to average daily output of 971,200 bpd recorded in 2021.

The sultanate’s total oil output in 2022 increased by nearly 10 per cent to 388.4mn barrels compared to 354.5mn barrels in 2021, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

Of the total production, crude production grew by 12.8 per cent to 309.5mn barrels in 2022 from 274.4mn barrels in 2021, while condensates output decreased by 1.4 per cent to 78.9mn barrels in 2022.

Total oil exports for the full year 2022 grew by 10.6 per cent to 319.5mn barrels in comparison with 288.9mn barrels in the previous year, the NCSI data showed.