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ABU DHABI, April 20 (Reuters) - BP expects to startnatural gas production from Oman's Khazzan field by 2017 at arate of 1 billion cubic feet (bcf) a day, a senior executivefrom the British oil major said on Monday.
"2017 is when we plan to have the first gas from the field,and that ramps up to 1 bcf a day - it may actually ramp up to 1bcf a day very quickly," Michael Townshend, president of BPMiddle East, told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
The company plans to drill 20 wells in 2015, boosting thatnumber to 50 wells in the next couple of years, and is alreadybuilding a plant to handle the first 1 bcf of gas, he said.
Total investment in the first phase to reach the initial gasproduction target will be $16 billion, he added. BP haspreviously said it expects to invest around $9.6 billion, inaccordance with its 60 percent stake in the project; state-ownedOman Oil Company Exploration & Production has 40 percent. BPsaid last October that it had awarded two drilling contractsworth $730 million for the project. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Maha El Dahan; Editing byAndrew Torchia)
