MUSCAT, (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell affiliate Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) said on Monday it had found significant volumes of natural gas in a new field and an extension of an existing field.

The newly discovered field, Simr, is close to the existing Saih Nihayda gas field in central Oman, a company statement said, without giving any indication on volumes.

“It is close to our existing infrastructure. Given Simr’s proximity to existing gas processing and pipeline infrastructure, the field will be rapidly appraised and hooked up to deliver gas to Oman,” the statement said.

“The Simr and Burhaan West discoveries show that Oman continues to be attractive for gas exploration,” PDO’s exploration director Martin Stauble said in the statement.

PDO drilled through five kilometres of rock at both the Simr 1 discovery well and the Burhaan W-3 well to reach the same gas-bearing reservoir formation.

PDO’s gas production was equivalent to 398,000 barrels of oil per day last year. But the company did not give corresponding production for the previous year.