Total has pulled out of a deepwater block in offshore Oman.

Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, did not provide any details regarding the French company’s decision.

The company has signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement in December 2013 for Block 41, which lies off the Omani coast, north-west of Muscat.

It covers almost 24,000 square kilometres of seabed, with depths of up to 3,000 metres.

It’s understood that last year, Hungarian oil group MOL, pulled out from Block 34, and Norwegian oil firm DNO from Block 31.