meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Hydrocarbons exploration rebounds

1 March 2023

MEED's upstream oil & gas report also includes: Energy security facilitates upstream spending

 

The world, and particularly countries in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, remains undeterred in its quest to find more oil and gas resources, despite headwinds from energy transition activity and falling long-term hydrocarbons demand forecasts.

Last year, the global oil and gas exploration sector had its strongest year in more than a decade. In its effort to improve portfolios by adding lower-carbon, lower-cost advantaged hydrocarbons, the sector created at least $33bn of value and achieved full-cycle returns of 22 per cent, at $60-a-barrel Brent prices, according to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie.

Julie Wilson, director of global exploration research at Wood Mackenzie, says 2022 was “a standout year for exploration”. 

“Volumes were good, but not stellar. However, explorers were able to drive very high value through strategic selection and by focusing on the best and largest prospects. 

“The discoveries bring higher-quality hydrocarbons into companies’ portfolios, allowing them to reduce carbon by displacing less advantaged oil and gas supplies while also meeting the world’s energy needs.

“The highest value came from world-class discoveries in a new deepwater play in Namibia, as well as resource additions in Algeria and several new deepwater discoveries in Guyana and Brazil, where the latest wave of pre-salt exploration finally met with success,” she says.

“The average discovery last year was over 150 million barrels of oil equivalent, more than double the average of the previous decade,” she adds.

The exploration sector continues to be dominated by national oil companies (NOCs) and majors, with QatarEnergy, France-headquartered TotalEnergies and Brazil’s Petrobras leading the way in net new discovered resources in 2022, according to Wood Mackenzie. In total, NOCs and majors accounted for almost three-quarters of new resources discovered, the research consultancy said.

Qatar’s overseas footprint

In addition to raising gas production capacity from the North Field gas reserve and carrying out a liquefied natural gas (LNG) output expansion programme, QatarEnergy has been pursuing an overseas offshore oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) campaign in recent years.

The state enterprise has been investing in expanding its international upstream footprint, particularly in the gas space. In the past five years, QatarEnergy has acquired interests in gas-rich offshore blocks in Angola, Guyana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Argentina, Mozambique, Morocco, Cyprus, Mexico, Brazil, Oman, Suriname and Canada.

In December, QatarEnergy won an offshore exploration block in Brazil in a consortium with TotalEnergies and Malaysia’s Petronas. QatarEnergy will hold a 20 per cent working interest in the Agua-Marinha production sharing contract, with TotalEnergies holding 30 per cent and Petronas Petroleo Brasil holding 20 per cent. Brazil’s state energy producer ANP will be the operator of the block, with a 30 per cent interest.

QatarEnergy also recently acquired a 30 per cent interest in exploration blocks four and nine off the coast of Lebanon. TotalEnergies is the operator of the blocks, holding a 35 per cent interest, with Italy’s Eni owning the remaining 35 per cent.

Oman E&P arena

Oman hosts the most foreign hydrocarbons E&P companies in the GCC. Majors such as BP, Shell and TotalEnergies have been present in the sultanate since the early 20th century, while smaller international upstream players have also been looking for – and producing – oil and gas for the past three decades.

The majority state-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) operates the sultanate’s biggest and most prolific hydrocarbons concession, block six. The smaller oil and gas concession areas are operated by firms headquartered overseas such as Eni, Occidental Petroleum, Tethys Oil and Maha Energy, as well as by local firms such as ARA Petroleum, Majan Energy & Petroleum and Musandam Oil & Gas Company.

Oman’s Energy & Minerals Ministry signed a concession agreement in December 2021 with a consortium led by Shell’s Oman subsidiary, Shell Integrated Gas Oman, to develop and produce natural gas from block 10 of the Saih Rawl gas field.

The consortium comprises Omani state energy enterprise OQ and Marsa LNG, a joint venture of France’s TotalEnergies and OQ. The concession agreement established Shell as the operator of block 10.

By late January, Shell had started producing gas from the Mabrouk North East field located in block 10.

In September last year, the Omani energy ministry signed another E&P agreement with Shell and France’s TotalEnergies to develop block 11, which is located adjacent to block 10 and is understood to be rich in natural gas reserves.

Shell and TotalEnergies will own 67.5 per cent and 22.5 per cent stakes in block 11, respectively, with OQ holding the other 10 per cent. Shell is the operator with the majority stake in the concession.

UAE makes strides

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has completed two upstream concession licensing rounds in the past

four years, attracting oil and gas producing companies from the US, Italy, Pakistan, India, Thailand and Japan to explore for resources.

Offshore block two, which is operated by Italian energy major Eni with Thailand’s state-owned PTT Exploration & Production Public Company (PTTEP), has so far yielded two discoveries with combined estimated reserves of up to 3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

In addition, in May last year, Adnoc announced the discovery of 650 million barrels of onshore crude oil reserves in Abu Dhabi, which increased the UAE’s hydrocarbons reserves base to 111 billion stock tank barrels of oil and 289 tcf of gas.

Adnoc also awarded Malaysia’s Petronas a six-year concession agreement in December to explore and appraise oil in unconventional onshore block one, deemed to be the Middle East’s first unconventional oil concession.

In Sharjah, Eni won stakes in all three upstream concession areas offered by Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) to international investors in the emirate’s first competitive hydrocarbons block bidding round, launched in June 2018. 

In January 2019, Eni successfully secured 75 per cent, 50 per cent and 75 per cent stakes in SNOC’s concession areas A, B and C, respectively.

Then, in October last year, PTTEP acquired a 25 per cent stake from Eni in area A, as a result of which Eni’s share in all three concession zones is now at 50 per cent.

Sharjah’s oil and gas fortunes reversed in January 2021, when SNOC, together with its partner Eni, announced the start-up of the Mahani 1 gas well. This marked the commencement of gas production from the Mahani field, located in area B, the first such onshore hydrocarbons discovery made in Sharjah in 37 years.

Energy security facilitates upstream spending

Bahrain labours on

Bahrain announced the discovery of the large Khalij al-Bahrain offshore hydrocarbons basin – estimated to contain 80 billion barrels of oil and 10-20 trillion cubic feet of gas – in April 2018.

Nearly five years later, Manama has been unable to make significant progress on the commercial appraisal of the oil and gas resources base. However, the lack of success with Khalij al-Bahrain has not deterred the country from continuing its exploration elsewhere.

In November, state energy conglomerate Nogaholding announced the discovery of natural gas in the two reservoirs of Al-Jawf and Al-Juba. The gas deposits are unconventional and situated in the Khuff and Unayzah geological formations.

Mena players make progress

Iraq, Opec’s second-largest oil producer, continues to seek more hydrocarbons resources in its territory. As recently as in February, the Oil Ministry awarded six oil concessions as part of the country’s fifth licensing round.

Three E&P concessions – one in Basra and two in Diyala governorates – were awarded to UAE-based Crescent Petroleum. Three others, also in Basra and Diyala, were awarded to China’s Geo-Jade Petroleum.

Eni’s discovery of the large Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean waters in 2015 elevated Egypt’s status as a significant upstream market globally, and the country’s government intends to continue to attract more E&P players on the back of this success.

Egypt’s hydrocarbons reserves spiked in 2022 with 53 new oil and gas discoveries: 42 oil wells and 11 gas wells, according to the Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry. The discoveries were made in Egypt’s Western Desert region, the Suez Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta.

So far in 2023, US-based Chevron, which operates the Nargis offshore concession in the East Mediterranean, together with its partners Eni and Egypt’s Tharwa Petroleum, has announced a discovery of Miocene and Oligocene gas-bearing sandstones.

At the start of this year, Egypt also launched an international licensing round for exploration rights in the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean, comprising 12 onshore and offshore blocks.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in future long-term demand scenarios for oil,” says Wilson. 

“Explorers are accelerating oil exploration to meet near- and mid-term demand, while gas exploration was focused in geographies that can supply the gas-hungry European market. In some cases, major leases are approaching the expiration of the exploration term and companies are pushing to optimise their value.”

She concludes: “By 2030, fast-tracked development of these new discoveries could deliver 1 million barrels a day in oil and half a million barrels a day of equivalent gas production, generating $15bn in free cash flow.” 

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/10640105/main.gif
Indrajit Sen

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Oman signs PPAs for Misfah and Duqm power plants

    23 January 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Oman's Nama Power & Water Procurement (Nama PWP) has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the development and operation of the Misfah and Duqm gas-fired independent power projects (IPPs).

    The two combined cycle gas turbine plants have been awarded to a consortium comprising Korea Western Power (Kowepo), Qatar’s Nebras Power, the UAE’s Etihad Water & Electricity (EtihadWE) and Oman’s Bhawan Infrastructure Services.

    The Misfah IPP will be led by Nebras Power and located in Wilayat Bousher in Muscat Governorate, with a planned capacity of 1,600MW.

    The Duqm IPP will be led by Kowepo and located in Wilayat Duqm in Al-Wusta Governorate, with a capacity of 800MW.

    According to Nama PWP, the total investment for the two projects is estimated at approximately RO1bn ($2.6bn)

    MEED reported in October that Nama PWP had received three bids for the development and operation of the gas-fired IPPs.

    The other bids included a consortium comprising China’s Shenzhen Energy Group and Oman National Engineering & Investment Company, and a lone bid from Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power.

    Synergy Consulting is the financial advisor and lead advisor to Nama PWP for these projects.

    In November, Oman’s OQ Gas Networks received final investment approval to proceed with gas supply connections for the facilities.

    The Misfah IPP will receive 8.5 million cubic metres a day (cm/d) of natural gas. The Duqm IPP will be supplied with 4.5 million cm/d of natural gas.

    Both plants are scheduled to deliver early power by April 2028 and to reach full commercial operations in 2029.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15499940/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Chiyoda wins feed contract for North Field West LNG project

    23 January 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    QatarEnergy has awarded Japan-based Chiyoda Corporation a contract for front-end engineering and design (feed) work on its North Field West liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.

    The North Field West project is the next phase of QatarEnergy’s North Field LNG expansion programme. The scheme will further increase Qatar’s overall LNG production capacity to 142 million tonnes a year (t/y) upon commissioning, which is scheduled for 2030.

    Chiyoda said in a statement that the feed contract for the project was awarded by QatarEnergy’s subsidiary QatarEnergy LNG, which is overseeing the North Field LNG expansion programme on behalf of its parent company. The Japanese firm has yet to provide further details about its contract.

    QatarEnergy announced the North Field West project, which is the third phase of its estimated $40bn North Field LNG expansion programme, in February 2024.

    The North Field West project will have an LNG production capacity of 16 million t/y, which is expected to be achieved through two 8 million t/y LNG processing trains, based on the two earlier phases of QatarEnergy’s LNG expansion programme. The new project will draw feedstock for LNG production from the western zone of the North Field offshore gas reserve.

    MEED recently reported that QatarEnergy had awarded a contract for the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of four offshore jackets and associated units at the North Field gas reserve in Qatari waters, as part of the wider North Field West project.

    US-headquartered McDermott International won the contract for the offshore jackets package, which is estimated to be valued at around $200m, according to sources. The new jackets to be installed will boost gas production from the North Field reservoirs, providing additional gas feedstock for the North Field West LNG project.

    Major projects under execution

    QatarEnergy is understood to have spent nearly $30bn on the first two phases of its North Field expansion programme – North Field East and North Field South – which will raise its LNG production capacity from 77.5 million t/y to 126 million t/y by 2028. Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on both projects are progressing.

    QatarEnergy awarded the main EPC contracts for the North Field East project in 2021. The project aimed to boost LNG output to 110 million t/y by 2025. The $13bn EPC package – covering the EPCI of four LNG trains, each with a capacity of 8 million t/y – was awarded in February 2021 to a consortium of Chiyoda and France’s Technip Energies.

    In May 2023, QatarEnergy awarded the $10bn main EPC contract for the North Field South project to a consortium of Technip Energies and Lebanon-based Consolidated Contractors Company.

    The contract includes two large LNG trains, each with a capacity of 7.8 million t/y.

    Once fully operational, the first two phases of the North Field expansion will add 48 million t/y of supply to the global LNG market.

    ALSO READ: QatarEnergy achieves strategic oil and gas goals in 2025

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15493998/main.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Kuwait picks preferred bidder for real estate PPP

    22 January 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Local firm United Real Estate Company has bid the highest for a contract to develop the third phase of a waterfront real estate project located in the Sharq area of Kuwait City.

    The firm made the announcement in a filing with Boursa Kuwait, where it is listed.

    The commercial offers were opened on 21 January, after Kuwait’s Finance Ministry and the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects had approved technical bids from seven groups for a contract to develop the project, as MEED reported.

    The scope includes rehabilitation, renovation, development, operation and maintenance and management of the project under a 15-year usufruct arrangement.

    The project covers an area of 384,385 square metres and is being developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.

    The other groups that are bidding for the project include:

    • Mabanee / Al-Durra National Real Estate Company
    • Al-Tijaria Real Estate Company / Al-Mutajara Real Estate Company / Al-Salmiya Group for Development
    • Arkan Real Estate Company / National Investments / Real Estate House / Al-Safat Investment / Al-Buyout Holding / SAK Construction
    • National Real Estate Company / United Projects Company
    • Al-Hamra Group / Al-Hani Group
    • Aayan Real Estate Company / Al-Enmaa Real Estate Company

    UK analytics firm GlobalData expects Kuwait’s construction industry to grow by 5.1% in 2026-29, supported by government investment in the oil and gas sector aimed at raising production, as well as investment in the infrastructure sector.

    In the short term, growth will be boosted by planned expenditure under the 2025-26 budget, which was approved in March 2025.

    The construction industry in Kuwait is expected to record an annual average growth rate of 4.9% in 2026-29, supported by investments in renewable energy, transport and oil and gas projects.

    The commercial construction sector is expected to grow by 4.8% in 2026-29, supported by public- and private-sector investment in the construction of hotels, retail outlets and office buildings.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15490605/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi Landbridge rail scheme to be delivered by 2034

    21 January 2026

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has said that it will deliver the Saudi Landbridge project through a "new mechanism" by 2034, after failing to reach an agreement with a Chinese consortium for the construction of the project.

    In an interview with local media, SAR CEO Bashar Bin Khalid Al-Malik said that the consortium failed to meet local content requirements, and the project will now be delivered in several phases through a different procurement model.

    The project has been under negotiation between Saudi Arabia and China-backed investors keen to develop it on a public-private-partnership basis.

    Al-Malik said that the project cost is about SR100bn ($26.6bn).

    It comprises more than 1,500 kilometres (km) of new track. The core component is a 900km new railway between Riyadh and Jeddah, which will provide direct freight access to the capital from King Abdullah Port on the Red Sea.

    Other key sections include upgrading the existing Riyadh-Dammam line, a bypass around the capital called the Riyadh Link, and a link between King Abdullah Port and Yanbu.

    The Saudi Landbridge is one of the kingdom’s most anticipated project programmes. Plans to develop it were first announced in 2004, but put on hold in 2010 before being revived a year later. Key stumbling blocks were rights-of-way issues, route alignment and its high cost.

    In April last year, MEED exclusively reported that SAR had issued a tender for the lead design consultancy services contract on the Saudi Landbridge railway network.

    MEED understands that the scope covered the concept design and options for the preliminary and issued-for-construction design stages on the network.

    MEED reported that the launch of a design tender directly by SAR suggested that Riyadh was looking at other options to develop it alongside the Chinese proposal.

    In December 2023, MEED reported that a team of US-based Hill International, Italy’s Italferr and Spain’s Sener had been awarded the contract to provide project management services for the programme.

    If it proceeds, the Saudi Landbridge will be one of the largest railway projects ever undertaken in the Middle East and one of the biggest globally. Based on typical design timeframes, tenders for construction are likely to be ready by mid-2026, although the question of how it will be financed will need to be answered before it can proceed to the next step.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15475837/main.gif
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Firms submit bids for Dorra gas scheme PMC

    21 January 2026

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Engineering firms have submitted bids to Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) for a tender covering project management consultancy (PMC) for the multibillion-dollar Dorra gas field facilities development project.

    MEED reported last March that KJO was pushing forwards with a project to produce gas from the Dorra offshore field, located in Gulf waters in the Neutral Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

    KJO has divided the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope of work on the project to produce gas from the Dorra field into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

    The broad scope of services under the tender involves providing PMC for EPC works for the Dorra gas facilities development project.

    Firms submitted bids for the PMC tender by the deadline of 19 January, sources told MEED.

    KJO issued the tender for PMC services for EPC works on the Dorra gas facilities development project on 29 September. Engineering firms were initially given until 24 November to submit bids for the tender, with that deadline then extended until 15 December and then finally until 19 January, according to sources.

    Sources said that the following firms, among others, are understood to be bidding for the PMC tender:

    • Fluor (US)
    • KBR (US)
    • Kent (Saudi Arabia/UAE)
    • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
    • Wood (UK)
    • Worley (Australia)

    KJO hosted a job explanation meeting with the bidders for the tender on 15 October, the sources said.

    KJO offshore and onshore facilities

    KJO, which is jointly owned by Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company (AGOC) and KPC subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), is moving forward with its Dorra gas field facilities project. KJO has divided the project’s scope of work into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.

    Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package 1 of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract awarded by KJO to L&TEH is estimated to be valued between $140m and $150m, MEED reported in October.

    Contractors are presently preparing to submit bids for the remaining three packages — offshore packages 2A and 2B, and onshore package 3 by 26 January, sources told MEED. KJO has extended the bid submission deadlines for these packages multiple times.

    The EPC scope of work for package 2A includes Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals. Package 2B involves the central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables. Package 3 includes the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.

    Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are pressing ahead with their ambitious plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas from the Dorra gas field, located in the waters of their shared Neutral Zone. Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.

    Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, both countries have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.

    The Dorra facilities project is one of three major multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that have been advancing over the past few months.

    AGOC onshore Khafji gas plant

    Meanwhile, AGOC has extended the bid submission deadline for seven EPC packages as part of a project to construct the Khafji gas plant, which will process gas from the Dorra field onshore Saudi Arabia, until 22 April.

    MEED previously reported that AGOC had issued main tenders for the seven EPC packages earlier in 2025. Contractors were initially set deadlines of 24 October for technical bid submissions and 9 November for submission of commercial bids, which was then extended by AGOC until 22 December.

    The seven EPC packages cover a wide range of works, including open-art and licensed process facilities, pipelines, industrial support infrastructure, site preparation, overhead transmission lines, power supply systems, and main operational and administrative buildings.

    France-based Technip Energies has carried out a concept study and front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the entire Dorra gas field development programme.

    Progress has been hampered by a geopolitical dispute over ownership of the Dorra gas field. Iran, which refers to the field as Arash, claims it partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the field lies entirely within their jointly administered Neutral Zone – also known as the Divided Zone – and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim.

    In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim to the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting in Riyadh between Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

    Since that show of strength and unity, projects targeting production and processing of gas from the Dorra field have gained momentum.

    KGOC onshore processing facilities

    KGOC has initiated early engagement with contractors for the main EPC tendering process for a planned Dorra onshore gas processing facility, which is to be located in Kuwait.

    KGOC is in the feed stage of the project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $3.3bn, and is now expected to issue the main EPC tender in the second quarter of this year, MEED recently reported.

    The proposed facility will receive gas via a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being separately developed by KJO. The complex will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cf/d of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra field.

    The facility will be located near the Al-Zour refinery, owned by another KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic).

    A 700,000-square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility, and discussions regarding survey work are ongoing. The site may require shoring, backfilling and dewatering.

    The onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), for possible injection into its oil fields.

    Additionally, KGOC plans to award licensed technology contracts to US-based Honeywell UOP and Shell subsidiary Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the plant’s acid gas removal unit and sulphur recovery unit, respectively.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15472237/main3457.jpg
    Indrajit Sen