Petronas Awarded Exploration Blocks Offshore Bahrain

The blocks, located southeastern offshore Bahrain, were awarded on September 22, 2001 based on a proposal submitted by Petronas in June 2001 following the Government of Bahrain's call for tender issued in March for three blocks, namely Blocks IV, V and VI. Several international oil companies submitted their proposals for the three blocks. Blocks IV and VI were awarded to Petronas on a Production Sharing Arrangement basis and Petronas will be the operator for the two blocks.

The blocks lie in a proven petroleum basin nearby giant oil and gas fields such as the Awali oil field onshore Bahrain, the Dukhan oil field and the North gas field, which are located onshore and offshore Qatar respectively, and the Ghawar oil field onshore Saudi Arabia.

No exploration activities have been undertaken in the blocks since the 1960s when a few explorations wells were drilled. However, to assist in the evaluation of the blocks, the Government of Bahrain has recently acquired new 3D seismic data covering a majority area of the blocks, including Block V.