The UK’s BP expects to invest as much as $15bn in the development of the Block 61 concession in northern Oman.

The investment will target part of the 30 trillion cubic feet (cf) of gas in reservoirs at depths of between 4,500- 5,000 metres within the Block 61 concession, which includes the Khazzan and Makarem fields.

“This will be a very large project, the largest project in Oman for quite some time, and will require approximately $15bn in capital investment from BP to make that happen. About $10bn of that will go into the drilling of wells and the rest will go for surface facilities,” says Jonathan Evans, vice-president of BP Oman, Oman Daily reports.

The first phase of the scheme will develop between 7-8 trillion cf of gas, with the Khazzan field projected to produce 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d).

Under the production-sharing agreement signed with Oman in January 2007, BP is required to submit a full field development plan to the Oil & Gas Ministry, which BP plans for early 2012 (MEED 9:11:07).

The full field development will require the construction of a 1.2 billion cf/d gas processing plant, as well as drilling more than 300 wells and creating more than 600 kilometres of flowlines.

Production is targeted for 2016-17. BP will begin with 60 wells and will add another 20 wells each year over 10 years, says Evans.