Total Inks Deepwater Drilling Deal Offshore Oman

Total has signed an exploration and production sharing agreement (PSA) for a deepwater block offshore Oman, the French company said in a statement on Thursday.

Block 41, which lies off the Omani coast northwest of the capital Muscat, covers almost 24,000 square kilometers of seabed at depths of between 30 and 3,000 meters.

“This acquisition is aligned with Total’s ambitious exploration strategy focused on frontier basins and new plays with strong potential,” Arnaud Breuillac, head of exploration for the Middle East at Total, said.

“For Total, this new entry into the ultra-deep offshore waters of Oman bolsters other recent additions to our exploration portfolio.”

The exploration program is expected to begin with seabed coring in 2014, Total said.