DOHA/SINGAPORE: Denmark’s Maersk Oil is in talks with Qatar Petroleum to extend a production sharing contract for the offshore Al Shaheen oilfield by another 13 years to 2030, industry sources said yesterday.
Crude production at the field could rise to 400,000 barrels per day (b/d) in 2017 from the current 300,000 b/d, one source said, with new equipment such as a floating storage and offloading unit possibly being installed if the contract is extended.
Maersk Oil spokesman Paul Taylor said the two companies were together evaluating the potential for additional development of the field. The field, which produces a heavy sour grade popular with Asian refiners, has been capable of producing 525,000 b/d since Maersk Oil completed an expansion project in 2010, but its output has been capped at 300,000 b/d to extend its life and meet Opec quotas. Maersk Oil entered into an EPSA with Qatar Petroleum for Block 5 including the Al Shaheen discovery in 1992. The companies have extracted around 1.2bn barrels of oil from the field since then. Reuters
