Tethys Oil, a Swedish energy company, said that it will be awarded a new exploration license for onshore Block 49 by Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas of the Sultanate of Oman. The Block will be signed on November 14.

 Block 49 is an onshore block that covers a prospective but still rather unexplored area in the South West of the Sultanate bordering Saudi Arabia. Tethys Oil will through its wholly owned subsidiary Tethys Oil Montasar be the operator of the Block and hold a 100 per cent of the license interest.

The Block 49 licence covers an area of 15,439 sq km. More than 11,000 km of 2D seismic data that has been acquired by previous operators has been made available to Tethys Oil. Nine wells have been drilled within the block boundaries, several of which are reported to have encountered oil shows. Among the legacy wells is the first well ever drilled in Oman in 1955 (Dauka-1).

 The exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for Block 49 covers an initial exploration period of three years with an optional extension period of another three years. In case of a commercial oil or gas discovery, the EPSA will be transformed in to a 15 year production license which can be extended for another five years.

In case of a commercial discovery Oman Government Company, has a right to acquire up to a 30 per cent interest in Block 49 against refunding of past expenditure. The initial work commitments during the first period include geological studies, seismic acquisition and processing and exploratory drilling.

"We are extremely pleased with having been awarded Block 49 and would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to the Government of Sultanate of Oman. Block 49 is the kind of opportunity Tethys Oil has been pursuing for some time,” said Tethys managing director Magnus Nordin.

“The Block covers an area with known oil shows, has a limited initial financial risk and offers several as yet immature but potentially very prolific play concepts. After more than ten years in Oman, Tethys Oil has built a strong technical team. As operator of the block, we are confident our Omani experience will be well suited to make Block 49 into a success," he added. – TradeArabia News Service