Like many Middle Eastern countries in the catastrophic aftermath of Saudi Arabia’s latest oil price war folly against the U.S. shale sector, Oman has been left in the position of Continue Reading
Chinese state-held giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is in advanced talks to buy a 10-percent stake in a giant natural gas field in Oman from BP in a deal Continue Reading
Even before the latest Saudi-instigated oil war crashed oil prices, Oman had a budget breakeven price per barrel of Brent of over US$85, with a senior legal source in Abu Continue Reading
Non-OPEC oil producer Oman has been talking to other countries in the Gulf about potentially receiving financial aid to help its economy and fiscal position which are hit by the Continue Reading
Oman has reduced its 2020 state budget by 500 million Omani riyals ($1.3 billion), after directing all ministries to reduce development and operating budgets by 10%, according to state-run news Continue Reading
Oman increased its crude oil and condensate production in March by nearly 13 percent from February, after the collapse of the OPEC+ deal early last month, according to data from Continue Reading
Given the twin facts that Oman has only around five billion barrels of estimated proved oil reserves (barely the 22 nd largest in the world) but is still dependent on Continue Reading
With OPEC+ production quotas set to expire at month’s end, Oman will be joining its Arab neighbors in ramping up its oil output, even as it slashes its budget to Continue Reading
With a fiscal breakeven oil price of US$87.55 per barrel (pb) of Brent in 2020 and 80 per cent of its revenues still coming directly or indirectly from the hydrocarbons Continue Reading
Oman’s economy contracted by 1.9% in nominal terms in the first half of the year as the non-oil sector shrank, the central bank said on Monday. The Gulf state’s finances Continue Reading
While oil traders have been generally punting to the “November Iran sanctions” as the reason why in recent weeks a bevy of $100 oil forecasts have emerged (even if Goldman Continue Reading
The higher oil prices and the subsequent higher oil revenues play a part in a significantly improved outlook for the state finances and trade balances of the Arab Gulf countries, Continue Reading
Oman’s crude oil and condensate production in June jumped to its highest in 16 months, another sign that key producers in the Middle East are beginning to pump more oil, Continue Reading
Natural gas from onshore basins in Oman could be used to develop a maritime fueling point for liquefied natural gas, French supermajor Total said. The French company signed a memorandum Continue Reading
British energy company BP said it brought lessons learned from hydraulic fracturing in the United States to start production at a natural gas field in Oman. BP and the Omani Continue Reading
But some global buyers see an opportunity in the current market crisis. With one of the world’s largest investors this week making a leap into the sector. That’s the sovereign Continue Reading
Oman would support OPEC output cuts past March 2018 to support oil prices, according a new report from The Times of Oman . There was no mention of deeper cuts. Continue Reading
Credit rating lowered to one notch below investment grade S&P says Oman can’t mitigate risk of volatile export revenue Oman was cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings, which said Continue Reading
Middle East international bond sales are off to the strongest ever start to a year as borrower demand for funds outstrips the firepower of local banks in an era of Continue Reading
Non-OPEC Oman will continue to cap its crude oil output at 970,000 bpd this year if OPEC and non-OPEC countries were to extend the production cuts through the end of Continue Reading
Oman has struck a deal with several banks for a $4 billion loan to be repaid in future oil deliveries. Abu Dhabi signed a contract with commodity trading giant Vitol Continue Reading
Oman, the largest Arab oil producer that’s not an OPEC member, plans to sell between $1.5 billion to $2 billion of bonds internationally in 2017 to plug a deficit caused Continue Reading
Senior officials from state-owned National Iranian Gas Exports Co have met with Oman’s oil ministry and three international oil companies — Shell, Total and Korea Gas Corp — to look Continue Reading
British energy company BP said it extended an agreement in Oman to help develop a natural gas field that may require hydraulic fracturing to exploit fully. BP and Oman Oil Continue Reading
Small non-OPEC producer Oman believes that an OPEC production deal is now more in sight than it was a few months ago, Omani Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammad bin Continue Reading
Oman’s Oil Minister Mohammad bin Hamad bin Saif al-Rumhi attends during the opening session of the first Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Doha November 15, 2011. Oman and Continue Reading
Middle Eastern oil producers including Saudi Arabia and Oman had their ratings downgraded by Moody’s Investors Service because of a collapse in oil prices, according to a statement from the Continue Reading
Oman, the biggest non-OPEC oil exporter in the Persian Gulf, offered to narrow differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran that scuttled a planned crude output freeze. Futures fell as much Continue Reading
After a year of plunging oil prices, all eyes were on Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister for two decades, to deliver a budget that could restore confidence in the Continue Reading
Gulf Cooperation Council countries may struggle to refinance $94 billion of debt in the next two years as the region faces slowing growth, rising rates and rating downgrades, according to Continue Reading
Oman, the poorest Gulf Arab country on the basis of economic output per person, was cut for the first time by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the negative impact of Continue Reading
The negative impact from the plunge in oil prices rippled further throughout crude-producing nations as Standard & Poor’s cut the credit ratings of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Kazakhstan. Saudi Continue Reading
BP Plc and state-owned Oman Oil Co. agreed to expand an exploration and production sharing agreement of the Khazzan natural gas field to include a second development phase, at an Continue Reading
Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, on a tour of oil producers to lobby for action to prop up prices, said on Thursday he had a “good and productive” meeting Continue Reading
Bahrain and Oman on Tuesday reduced government subsidies on gasoline, becoming the latest Gulf Arab countries to try to cut back on spending and offset the effect of oil prices, Continue Reading
Oman’s Shura Council voted to hike corporate taxes as the Middle East’s largest oil producer outside of OPEC faces another year of shrinking government revenue. The elected advisory body voted Continue Reading
A caustic slogan is doing the rounds on social networks in the Gulf states this festive season: “All I want for Christmas is for oil prices to go up.” Gloom Continue Reading
Oman exported more crude oil in June than it produced after trading giant ChinaOil picked up an unprecedented 49 cargoes during the Platts Dubai Market on Close assessment process in April. China, which has been the biggest buyer of Oman crude in recent years, accounted for 90% of the country’s overall crude exports in June, up more than 12% from May, according to data released by Oman’s oil and gas ministry over the weekend. Oman exported 912,015 b/d of crude oil in June — up 11.28% from May — even as its production was only 888,636 b/d, according to government data. In addition to exports, it also supplied 134,366 b/d of crude to domestic refineries, up from 92,534 b/d in May. While China’s share of Oman crude reached a record high, it wasn’t immediately clear where the additional export barrels came from. Traders said the extra crude could be […]
A rendering of a solar-thermal facility in the desert. For years, the unforgiving desert of Oman has required special tools to extract some of the planet’s heaviest crude. The Persian Gulf sultanate’s repertoire now includes a technology not generally associated with oil pumping: solar power. One of the world’s largest solar plants will be constructed to coax Oman’s heavy oil out of the ground, according to Oman and its partners, Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A -0.29 % PLC and French energy company Total SA TOT 0.59 % . Called Miraah, which means “mirror” in Arabic, the 1,021 megawatt solar-thermal facility is slated to be completed in 2017 and located at the Amal West oil field in South Oman. The solar plant will be built by Petroleum Development Oman, a joint venture between the Omani government, Shell and Total, and GlassPoint Solar, a Fremont, Calif.-based solar manufacturer. The construction of a […]
Since pre-Islamic times, Oman’s water systems known as aflaj have brought water from the mountains and made the desert bloom. But now, unregulated pumping of groundwater is depleting aquifers and causing the long-reliable channels to run dry. It was 47 degrees Celsius. Make that 117 degrees Fahrenheit. In mid-May, the desert of northern Oman may have been the hottest place on the planet. But in the shade of the oasis, the temperature was dramatically cooler. Ali Al Muharbi, in his white robes and beard, beamed as he showed me around the date palms. All were irrigated by water gurgling down a channel dug many centuries ago to tap underground water in the nearby Hajar mountains. In Oman, a country on the shores of the Arabian Sea, these magical waters conjured from the most arid land imaginable are called “unfailing springs.” Image by Fred Pearce: Ali Al Muharbi (right) says […]
The boom that adorned Gulf Arab monarchies with glittering towers, swelled their sovereign funds and kept unrest largely at bay may be over after oil prices dropped by almost 50 percent in the last six months. The sheikhdoms have used the oil wealth to remake their region. Landmarks include man-made islands on reclaimed land, as well as financial centers, airports and ports that turned the Arabian desert into a banking and travel hub. The money was also deployed to ward off social unrest that spread through the Middle East during the Arab Spring. “The region has had 10 years of abundance,” said Simon Williams , HSBC Holdings Plc’s chief economist for central and eastern Europe , the Middle East and North Africa. “But that decade of plenty is done. The drop in oil prices will hurt performance in the near term, even if the Gulf’s buffers are powerful enough […]
Oman , which faces Iran across the Strait of Hormuz , said it’s poised to start raising cash for a $3 billion rail line offering an alternative route for oil and freight shipments that funnel through the 21 mile-wide channel. The nation of 3.3 million people, located on the southern side of the strait, is considering issuing bonds by the end of 2014 to kick-start funding for the track across some of the Arabian peninsula’s harshest terrain, Abdulrahman Al Hatmi, a director at Oman National Railway Co., said in an interview. Iranian threats to close the Hormuz waterway have been a recurrent theme in Western relations with the Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution. While tensions have begun to ease after an interim deal aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program , Al Hatmi said the “very expensive” rail line is more than justified by the new trade opportunities bypassing […]
