Opec: Total aims to re-develop oilfield in Qatar

Quoting Total’s vice-president Pierre Leschi, Opec said the company had already started to look at a suitable re-development plan.

Total recently negotiated a 25-year extension to its license to operate the field. The deal was due to expire in 2014.

Leschi disclosed that the plan for Al Khalij, which has been producing since 1997, was in the conceptual phase.

Production from the field, which was as high as 50,000bpd in 2005 and 40,000bpd in 2008, currently stands at around 25,000bpd. Total discovered the field in 1991 after signing up for a 25-year operating license two years before.

Company officials have stated that the field, situated offshore Qatar, is now in need of re-development work to stabilise output and boost its capacity.

Leschi was quoted as saying that it had not yet been determined how much investment would be made in the field and to what extent production could be hiked under a re-development programme, which Opec bulletin said, could be implemented over a five-year period.

At present, the field operated with some 60 wells and eight platforms. Any new project would most likely require further wells being drilled, as well as additional platforms.

Total’s chief in Qatar Stephane Michel said the renewal of the licence was a sign of QP’s confidence in Total being able to maximise the recovery rate at the field.

Citing official figures Opec said that at the end of 2011, the field had produced a total of 166.6mn barrels of oil. It held proven reserves amounting to 79mn barrels as well as an estimated 18mn barrels of “expected” deposits.

Total is heavily involved in Qatar’s petroleum industry. In addition to the Al Khalij interest, it has a 25% stake in the country’s deep gas exploration prospect at Block BC, 10% in the Qatargas-1 production train venture, 16.7% in Train 5 (Qatargas 2) and a 24.5% in Dolphin Energy.

Qatar Petroleum will now be looking to strike similar production sharing agreement (PSA) deals with other international firms working with its shores.

These will include Maersk Oil (Denmark), whose license for the 300,000bpd Al Shaheen Field expires in 2017 and Occidental of the United States, whose license for the 90,000bpd Idd Al-Shargi field matures in 2019.