Oxy to kick off exploration of 3 oil blocks this year

Muscat, March 3 - Occidental of Oman, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, says it expect to begin exploration activities in three newly acquired blocks during the course of 2019. The announcement came in the wake of the addition of Block 72 to its portfolio of investments in the Sultanate. On Thursday, February 28, the company formally signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) with the Government of the Sultanate of Oman to explore for, appraise, develop and produce oil and gas in Block 72, located in the south-central region of Oman, adjacent to Occidental’s operated Block 53 (Mukhaizna Field).

The Block 72 EPSA was signed on behalf of the Government of the Sultanate of Oman by Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, and for Occidental of Oman by Vicki Hollub, Occidental Petroleum’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The signing ceremony took place

at the Ministry of Oil and Gas (MoG), attended by Eugene Batchelder, Chairman of Occidental Petroleum’s Board of Directors along with other members of the Board, officials from the Ministry and a number of Occidental executives.

Occidental Petroleum’s Board of Directors held its recent Board meeting in Muscat, only the second time in the company’s history that it has been held outside the United States. The previous occasion was also in Oman, in February 2015, when Occidental celebrated 30 years of operation in the Sultanate. Together with the recently signed EPSAs for Block 65 and 51, Block 72 more than doubles Occidental’s acreage in Oman from 2.3 million gross acres to over 6 million gross acres. Occidental has drilled more than 4,000 wells in Oman and operates both oil and gas production facilities in Northern Oman and a major heavy oil steamflood project in the Mukhaizna Field.

In the Fourth-Quarter of 2018, Occidental Oman average gross daily production was 246,100 barrels of oil (BOE) per day. Occidental will be targeting both oil and gas exploration opportunities in Block 72. “These three new blocks further complement and solidify Occidental’s strong position in Oman,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub. “They leverage our near field exploration success over the last 30 years in Oman and create operational synergies with our existing infrastructure in Northern Oman and at the Mukhaizna Field.”