Abraj Energy signs deal with BP for drilling rig in Block 61
Muscat – Abraj Energy Services has signed a contract with BP Oman to provide a drilling rig for operations in Block 61, with the rig expected to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The agreement was formalised on the sidelines of the Oman Petroleum & Energy Show (OPES) and Oman Sustainability Week (OSW) 2025. This partnership is set to reinforce Abraj's position as a reliable and leading partner in Oman's oil and energy sector.
The contract also reflects Abraj's continued commitment to operational excellence, occupational safety, and the delivery of innovative services and solutions that support and advance the energy sector in Oman.
In a statement to Oman News Agency, Eng Saif bin Said al Hamhami, CEO of Abraj Energy Services, said, 'We are proud of this strategic partnership with BP Oman to provide a drilling rig in Block 61, building on a collaboration that has spanned more than a decade in the drilling services sector. This marks a new milestone in our efforts to expand our operational reach and strengthen our presence in the local market through high-quality, impactful projects.'
Hamhami added that the agreement demonstrates the strategic partners' confidence in Abraj's efficiency and capability to deliver safe, effective operational solutions that adhere to the highest international standards.
He emphasised the company's steadfast commitment to maximising in-country value, investing in the development of national talent, and enhancing operational sustainability.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times of Oman
02-06-2025
- Times of Oman
bp Oman and Tech Space Conclude the 'Smoothy' Coding Programme
Muscat: In partnership with bp Oman, Tech Space concluded the 'Smoothy' coding programme, which aimed to teach foundational programming skills to early-grade students. The programme benefited 270 students from grades 3 and 4 during the 2024/2025 academic year, across 10 schools in Muscat Governorate. It focused on introducing children to programming at an early age, encouraging them to use technology to develop creative projects, and fostering their personal and cognitive skills. The first phase of the programme involved training 13 teachers from the participating schools on the Smoothy curriculum. This enabled them to deliver coding lessons in classrooms during the second phase. Students learned the basics of programming in a fun and interactive way that fostered creativity and logical thinking, using the specially designed Smoothy language through the HelloCode platform. This approach helped prepare them to understand more advanced programming languages in the future. The third and final phase included on-site school visits to evaluate and showcase the students' projects. Ibrahim Al Hinai, Social Investment Manager at bp Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, commented: 'We are proud to contribute to empowering our students and equipping them with modern programming and tech skills. The students demonstrated impressive abilities, creating innovative solutions through coding. Over 1,076 creative projects were developed, and 2,853 coding challenges were solved. We remain committed to supporting young talents in building the future.' Eman Al Rawahi, CEO of Tech Space, stated: "This programme successfully achieved its intended goals as a foundational coding initiative for early-grade students. It promoted critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and the students impressed us with their creative programming projects, which reflected their ability to express ideas and innovations through code. We are very proud of the level these young coders have reached."
Observer
27-05-2025
- Observer
Private sector must absorb premiums to accelerate energy transition
MUSCAT: The global energy transition will not succeed without private-sector willingness to absorb cost premiums, build scalable models and push investment despite current regulatory uncertainties, according to Salih Merghani, Executive Vice President for Energy at Olayan Saudi Holding Company. Speaking at the Oman Petroleum & Energy Show (OPES) held in Muscat recently, Merghani said that unlike previous shifts in industrial history, today's energy transition demands that companies move away from 'dense, cheap and reliable' fossil fuels to energy sources that are intermittent, complex and often more expensive. 'This is unlike anything we've attempted before. We're transitioning not because the alternatives are more efficient, but because of an environmental imperative. That makes the economics more challenging — and more urgent,' he said. Merghani noted that although Saudi Arabia and the region offer competitively priced energy, the lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework for decarbonisation is slowing momentum. As a result, private investors must take the lead in developing new mechanisms for green investment. 'In our case, we asked ourselves: why move now? The answer was scalability. The scale exists, the market is forming and our capital has to find a home where it contributes to the long-term shift,' he said. He cited examples of private investment by Olayan into carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and industrial retrofits aimed at reducing emissions in sectors like steel, cement and heavy industry. 'We looked at steel production, for example. Instead of building a new 'green steel' facility from scratch, we worked on retrofitting existing operations to lower their emissions profile significantly,' he explained. However, he stressed that many low-carbon technologies will not scale without 'offtake guarantees' and financial structures that share the risk across the value chain. 'We realised that if we wanted to accelerate deployment, someone had to accept the premium — whether in the form of higher offtake prices, long-term contracts, or industrial policy support,' he said. Merghani also highlighted the role of voluntary carbon markets (VCMs), noting that investments under Saudi Arabia's VCM initiative have focused on creating credible carbon credits and building awareness within the private sector. 'We don't yet have taxes or binding emissions caps, but the idea is to integrate carbon into business decision-making through the market. The VCM gives us a way to do that,' he said. On technology maturity, he pointed out that while solar energy has now reached global scale, other solutions — particularly CCS and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) — still face barriers. 'We've made strong progress in solar, but CCS and SAF require different economic models. For SAF, the aviation sector may be the last to transition and retrofits must become financially viable at today's cost structures,' he said. Merghani called for greater collaboration between industrial players, regulators and financiers to unlock the full potential of emerging technologies. 'Financing institutions must be part of the solution. We can't build a project pipeline if the banks and regulators aren't aligned with the pace of transition,' he noted. He concluded by stressing that while the private sector is ready to lead, market signals and policy coordination must follow if the region is to move from pilot projects to full-scale decarbonisation. 'The technology is here, the investment appetite is real — but if we want this to happen fast, it has to be a shared effort. This transition won't happen under normal conditions. We need to rewire the whole ecosystem,' he said.
Observer
21-05-2025
- Observer
Digitalisation of curricula to empower teachers
The Ministry of Education, represented by the Directorate-General of Curriculum Development, and in cooperation with BP Oman, launched the Digitalisation of School Curricula Project for Grades 1–12. The event was held under the auspices of Eng Said bin Hamoud al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, and was attended by Dr Madeeha bint Ahmed al Shaibaniyah, Minister of Education. In his speech, Dr Abdullah bin Khamis Ambusaidi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Education, emphasised the unprecedented opportunities brought about by digital technologies to enhance the quality of education. 'Education is no longer confined within the four walls of the classroom. It has become a vast space that transcends geographic boundaries and provides both students and teachers access to rich and diverse learning resources.' He said that the project directly empowers teachers with modern educational tools to deliver content more effectively and creatively while offering students a flexible and comprehensive learning experience that aligns with their individual needs and abilities. He added by saying that the project is an integral part of a broader vision for digital transformation in education, laying the foundation for a technology-based, future-oriented learning ecosystem. Yousuf bin Mohammed al Ojaili, President of BP Oman, expressed the company's pride in partnering with the Ministry of Education, stating that the initiative aims to empower teachers and enrich students' learning experiences through greater interactivity. He emphasised that the collaboration highlights the vital role of public-private partnerships in driving innovation and leaving a sustainable impact on education in Oman. The event featured a visit to a model interactive classroom, where a group of teachers and students presented sample lessons using digital textbooks and interactive screens. A short documentary on the project's development journey was also shown, followed by the official digital book launch and the honouring of BP Oman as the project's main sponsor. The digitisation process went through several key stages, beginning with the preparatory phase, which involved defining the technical and educational specifications for the digital content. This was followed by content analysis, scenario development, and quality review. Each digital book required up to 80 hours of review, totalling more than 4,800 hours for 60 books. A trial phase was then conducted in selected schools to gather feedback and refine the content. The final stage involves publishing the digital books through the ministry's Educational Technologies Portal and later via the Noor platform's digital repository, in line with broader national digital transformation projects. Media campaigns will also accompany the rollout to raise awareness. Dr Mona al Siyabi, Head of the Technical and Scientific Team for Digitising the English Language, said: 'In line with Oman Vision 2040, we have launched the first phase of developing digital interactive books for Omani schools. This phase focuses on transforming traditional textbooks into engaging digital formats for the early grades. "These new digital books are rich with interactive features, including games, activities and videos, designed to enhance the learning experience for students and support teachers in the classroom. They also serve as a helpful resource for parents at home. We aim to expand this effort to cover grades 5 through 12 in the upcoming stages." Currently, these interactive books are being piloted in selected schools, and we are collecting feedback from teachers and students to evaluate their experience and identify areas for improvement. The ministry aims to develop and transform traditional curricula into interactive digital content within the national educational platform. The project seeks to offer a variety of digital resources for different learning styles, support distance education using information and communication technology, foster self-learning and collaborative learning and equip students with future-ready skills. Ultimately, it aims to improve the quality of education, enhance student performance and provide accessible and effective digital learning tools. The project comprises 6 phases... the preparatory phase, the analysis phase, the educational scenario preparation phase, the digital production phase, a pilot phase and the digital book propagation phase (giving access to digital content via the e-learning portal and later via the Noor system).
