DUBAI, April 15, 2008 (Dow Jones Newswires)

OMV AG, DNO ASA and 11 other companies on April 14 signed production sharing agreements to develop seven oil and gas blocks in Yemen, the Yemeni oil ministry said Monday.

The PSAs for onshore blocks 19, 28, 29, 57, 82, 83 and 84 that were tendered under Yemen's third bid round still require ratification from the parliament, the ministry said in an emailed statement.

Companies that also signed agreements include Indian Oil Corp., Oil India, Indonesia's Medco Energi Internasional and Kuwait Energy Co., the ministry said.

Signing of an eighth PSA with the U.K.'s Burren Energy "has been delayed given that the company is in transition and has been acquired by Eni S.p.A.," the ministry added.

Yemen hopes the contracts will help it stem a steep decline in crude oil production.

In the past seven years, the country has seen output fall 37% from a record high of 438,501 barrels a day in 2001 to about 320,000 million barrels a day last year.

DUBAI, April 15, 2008 (Dow Jones Newswires)