![Qatar Petroleum (QP), the world's largest oil producer, announced Tuesday that it has raised its LNG capacity from 77 million to 100 million tons a year. Qatar Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Saad Sharida Al Kaabi told a news conference in Doha on 4 July, 2017 [Mohamed Farag/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017_07_04-Qatar-Petroleum20170704_2_24540733_23724959.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Qatar Petroleum (QP) today signed an agreement to participate in exploration and production activities in Oman.
The company said in a statement that it would become a partner in 30 per cent of the contractor’s share of exploration and production participation in the 52nd offshore area off the Sultanate of Oman.
Under the agreement, the parties to the Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement will be the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar Petroleum, Italy’s ENI with a 55 per cent stake and Oman Oil Company (OOC) with a 15 per cent stake.
“The Contracting Parties, through ENI, the Italian company that will be the operator under the Exploration and Production Sharing Contract, will start implementing an exploration programme that includes a three-dimensional seismic survey, followed by drilling and excavation,” the statement added.
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Area 52 is an unexplored region which covers more than 90,000 square kilometres and is located in water depths of between 10 and 2,000 metres.
Qatar Petroleum is a government company responsible for the development of gas and oil projects in Qatar.