State-owned Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production (OOCEP) and Eni have entered into an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for Block 47 with the Omani government, Eni has said in a statement.

According to the statement, Block 47 is located onshore in the Omani A’Dakhiliyah Governorate and covers an approximate area of 8,524 sqkm. The Block was awarded to Eni and OOCEP following their joint bid as part of the 2017 Oman Licensing Round.

As per the agreement signed, Eni is the operator of Block 47 with a 90% participating interest and OOCEP holds the remaining 10% participating interest. Exploration operations are expected to commence in 2019.

In addition, Eni has signed a Head of Agreement (HoA) with the Ministry of Oil and Gas and British Petroleum (BP) that set up the principals for the acquisition of the exploration and production rights to the onshore Block 77 for an area of 3.100 sqkm, around 30km east of the BP-operated Khazzan gas field. The EPSA is expected to follow shortly.

The signature of Block 47 EPSA and Block 77 HoA, represents a further step in Eni’s strategy to reinforce its presence in The Sultanate of Oman and strengthen the collaboration with OOCEP, which is Eni’s partner also in Block 52, Eni said in a statement.

The exploration and production deal in Oman is the fourth in a series of energy contracts signed by Eni this week in the GCC. Eni is also present in Lebanon and Iraq in the Middle East.