Tuesday 26 / August / 2025
Muscat: OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) announced the successful commissioning of the Bisat-C Expansion Facilities in its flagship Block 60 licence, bringing the total oil processing capacity to 67,000 barrels per day.
The Bisat-C Expansion marks a strategic enhancement to OQEP’s upstream portfolio, significantly increasing oil processing capabilities and supporting the company’s vision for sustainable energy development. The project, which commenced with the contract award on 10 January 2024, groundbreaking in March 2024 and achieved first crude oil in less than 18 months. This early delivery underscores the high level of coordination, planning, and technical execution that defined the project from inception to completion.
The expanded facility has been designed to handle additional gross fluids capacity of 447,000 barrels per day, with an oil train processing capacity of 37,000 barrels per day, and Produced Water treatment capacity of 410,000 barrels per day. Therefore, Bisat C has now a total oil processing capacity reaching 67,000 barrels per day. This substantial capacity remarks the maturation of OQEP production growth.
Health, Safety, and Environment were cornerstones of the Bisat-C project’s success. At its peak, the site workforce reached 1,200 personnel between February and June 2025, with a 3 million safe man-hours completed without a single Lost Time Injury (LTI). Additionally, 2 million kilometres were driven during the project without any Road Traffic Accidents (RTA), reflecting OQEP’s strong emphasis on HSE standards across all operations.
The project has made a strong contribution to In-Country Value (ICV), with a total local spend of OMR24.6 million directed to SME, Made in Oman goods, and local goods and services suppliers, further strengthening Oman’s supply chain ecosystem. In addition, 23 Omani fresh graduates were trained and recruited, which underscores the project’s commitment to national talent development.
From a construction perspective a total of 486 piles, each 12 metres deep, were installed to support the facility’s tanks. The largest tank is the Produced Water tank, which has a capacity of 27,784 cubic metres (approximately 174,700 barrels) and measures 48.7 meters in diameter and 14.8 meters in height. Other critical processing unit includes a Gas Flotation Tank (GFT) measuring 15 metres in height and diameter and in diameter, and a Gross Inlet Separator that spans 27.5 metres in length, 4.6 metres in diameter, and weighs 145 metric tonnes. Other elements include a Heater Treater and Desalter package with a daily capacity of 40,400 barrels, and containerised substation building. To support enhanced reservoir management, the water injection pumps boosts a flow of 1,130 cubic metres per hour at 90 Barg, powered by a 4 MW system back to subsurface.
