Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals announced it is offering new upstream blocks. Speaking at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists conference in Muscat on 30 September, Undersecretary Mohsen al-Hadhrami provided little detail, only mentioning that the offshore Block 18 will be on offer. The ministry did not respond to MEES questions for further details. Block 18 was last operated by India’s Reliance Industries which abandoned it in 2011 after a failed drilling campaign (MEES, 9 November 2012)