Oman Ministry of Oil & Gas has closed bids for two hydrocarbon concessions onshore Block 31 and the offshore Block 52 offered up by the as part of the Oman Licensing Bid Round, a report said.

They were among a portfolio of four blocks offered for investment under Exploration & Production Sharing Agreements (EPSA) with the Omani government as part of the latest licensing round, reported Oman Observer.

Tight gas is the predominant petroleum play in Block 31 which, along with Block 30, was last owned by Norwegian based international energy DNO. The 8,526-sq-km concession has produced no discoveries to date, although gas shows were encountered in Suneinah-2 within the Mayhah formation. Four prospects have so far been mapped within the block, according to the ministry.

“Block 31 is located to the north of some of Oman’s largest oil fields. Like those fields the expected reservoirs are within the Wasia and Kahmah groups. Additional potential may exist within thrust sheets of the Sumeini Group,” the ministry said in a backgrounder on the concession.

Referring to the tight gas potential of the concession, it noted: “Within the tight gas play is an unconventional sub-play for the Natih E.”

“This unit is a source interval and also a reservoir. Development of unconventional gas is only beginning in the Sultanate and the Natih E has been recognised as a prime target across northern Oman,” it added.

Block 52, a mammoth 90,790-sq-km concession off Dhofar Governorate, is the largest block offered up for investment to date. Although there have been no discoveries made to date within this concession, gas shows were encountered in the Lower Tertiary and Aruma sections in the Sawqrah Bay South-1, according to the ministry.