Work on the three-year contract is expected to start by the end of 2008, with the data to be used for the development and long-term recovery prospects of the field.

Dukhan, one of the oldest fields in the state, currently produces around 330,000-barrels-a-day (b/d). An enhanced oil recovery scheme is under way to lift output to 350,000 b/d over the next few years.

The Dukhan field contains three oil reservoirs and a fourth non-associated gas reservoir.

Earlier this year, France's Technip won the front-end engineering and design contract for a $250m-300m acid gas removal project at Dukhan (MEED 17:3:08).

Qatar is striving to increase total oil production to 1.1 million b/d by 2010, from 900,000 b/d currently (MEED 30:5:08).