Energy
From The Report: Oman 2015
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Oil and gas remain key economic contributors in Oman, with hydrocarbons accounting for 85.7% of government revenues in 2013. New partnerships with the private sector have led to some of the most advanced enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in the world with the use of solar-fired EOR technologies playing an increasingly important role in the sector. The sultanate is expected to substantially increase its domestic supply of natural gas in the coming years via production at the Khazzan tight gas reserves. Downstream, new refinery and petrochemical developments at Duqm and Sohar will see Oman capitalise on its geographic location. Although falling world oil prices have created a stormier forecast for hydrocarbons export revenues, rising domestic demand, along with targeted economic diversification policies that aim to reduce oil’s share of GDP to 9% by 2020, should ensure that the country avoids the worst of global market shocks over the longer term. This chapter contains interviews with Salim Nasser Said Al Aufi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Oil and Gas; and Harib Al Kitani, CEO, Oman LNG.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Oil and gas remain key economic contributors, while investment increasingly focuses on EOR techniques and downstream development
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The sultanate’s geographic position on the Arabian Peninsula, in close proximity to the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, but outside the Strait of Hormuz, has given it the region’s best access to one of the world’s most important energy corridors. Following several years of declining output in the 2000s, plans are under way to increase crude oil production, and the sultanate’s comparatively liberalised market has seen a host of new partnerships with the private sector lead to some of the…

Interview

Salim Nasser Said Al Aufi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Oil and Gas: Interview
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Interview:Salim Nasser Said Al Aufi How do you assess the progress of the in-country value (ICV) initiative, and what additional mechanisms are needed to meet value retention targets? SALIM NASSER SAID AL AUFI: The ICV initiative seeks to retain a portion of the $64bn within local oil and gas supporting industries by 2020. In December 2013, the first wave of 14 supply chain development opportunities were launched, followed by another six in June 2014. So far these represent about 17% of the…

Analysis

Increasing solar-fired enhanced oil recovery could have a significant economic impact
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Over the past 10 years, Oman’s maturing oilfields have increasingly relied on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies, which have seen current production return close to levels not witnessed in 15 years. With EOR expected to comprise a quarter of state-owned Petroleum Development Oman’s (PDO) total oil production by 2020, the sultanate has seen natural gas usage in oilfield production expand substantially, and new technologies utilising solar power have been touted as the solution to the sultanate’s…

Interview

Harib Al Kitani, CEO, Oman LNG: Interview
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Interview:Harib Al Kitani As it seeks to keep up with the growing demand for gas, how is Oman addressing capacity-related constraints in the upstream gas segment? HARIB AL KITANI: Demand for gas in Oman is high and keeps on growing every year, as it is used in power generation, domestic use and enhanced oil recovery, as well as other industrial applications. In fact, Oman has witnessed some of the world’s fastest rates of growth in the power generation sector, at a rate of around 10% per…

Analysis

New training centres are being developed to address the shortage of qualified workers
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As the sultanate’s oil and gas sector enters a renaissance period, moving back towards production levels of 15 years ago using enhanced oil recovery (EOR), and while new unconventional gas production offers new economic opportunities, the industry has found itself facing a shortage of human resources (HR). Recent estimates put Oman’s HR gap in the tens of thousands, and the government is working with the private sector under its far-reaching in-country value (ICV) programme to reduce this gap,…

Analysis

A host of new initiatives are moving forward as demand increases
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A decade of rapid development in Oman has seen the sultanate’s population jump, while rising industrialisation and new construction projects have bolstered economic diversification under the Vision 2020 economic development plan. This has not come without costs, however, and natural gas consumption has sky-rocketed in recent years, driven by heavy new demand in the utilities sector, as well as expansive new projects utilising enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques. A landmark natural gas agreement…