Occidental Oman (Oxy) has extended a five-year oil drilling contract to Abraj Energy Services in an onshore block in the north of the Gulf state.

The new contract will extend drilling services at Block 53 until August 2030 in four oil rigs, Abraj said in an Omani bourse disclosure.

Block 53 is located in the Mukhaizna fields that hold 600 million barrels of crude oil reserve.

Oxy holds the majority shareholding of Block 53 and pledged it would spend $30 billion in exploration investments in the heavy oil field in Mukhaizna. 

This is the third oil drilling contract Abraj has won this year. 

In June, State-run Petroleum Development Oman awarded Abraj a six-year oil drilling contract in an onshore block 6 in the north of the Gulf state.

In May, BP Exploration awarded Abraj a $32 million contract to drill for gas in Oman’s Khazzan field, one of the sultanate’s largest.

Abraj, a subsidiary of state-owned OQ, listed nearly half of its capital on the Omani bourse in a $244 million initial public offering in February 2023. Its share price of OR0.28 ($0.73) has declined by around a third in the year to date.

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