OREANDA-NEWS. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has drilled the 1,000th well at its Nimr oil field — the first in the country to reach such a milestone. NM-1000 has been developed around three kilometres south west of the field’s first well, NM-1, which is still in production after its discovery 33 years ago.

To date, the 1,000 wells at Nimr, which is in the southern part of PDO’s concession area, have produced 625 million barrels of oil with another 132 million barrels of reserves in the pipeline — an average ultimate recovery of 700,000 barrels per well. Nimr Cluster Leader Junaid Mohiddin Ghulam said: “Besides being the first oil field in Oman to achieve this milestone, NM-1000 symbolises the persistence, resolve and sustainability of the team to produce oil from some of the most challenging subsurface environments. It is a proud moment for both staff and contractors who have worked so hard in difficult conditions to achieve this success.”

The well was drilled by PDO Rig-82 over a 23-day period in the complex and challenging Middle Gharif sandstone reservoir to a total depth of 2,100 metres and is now in production. PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said: “This is a real landmark both for the Company and the country and I am immensely proud of the diligence, dedication and expertise of all those associated with the field. The Nimr Cluster has evolved into an efficient fossil fuel factory with the team now delivering over 100 wells a year — a tremendous collective effort which has generated, and will continue to generate, significant revenue and resource for Oman.” Heavy oil production began at Nimr in 1985 after the commissioning of production facilities.

The production of horizontal wells with the drilling of NM-134 in 1990 was a turning point, subsequently taking the total field production to a peak plateau of 90,000 barrels per day. Nimr, PDO’s largest field in terms of production, has a further 150 million barrels currently being matured through field trials and studies and polymer injection trials have just commenced.