Oman to limit crude output at 970,000bpd, if cap continues

Muscat: Oman plans to limit its crude oil production to 970,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year instead of an original plan of 1,001,000 barrels a day, if the ongoing capping on output continues for the rest of the year in line with a deal between Opec and non-Opec countries, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Addressing the annual media briefing here on Monday, Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said that if oil producing countries extend the production cut beyond the initial six months, the average production will be around 970,000 barrels per day. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec countries last year decided to cut daily production by 1.8 million barrels for the first six months of 2017. As part of the deal, Oman decided to slash its output by 45,000 barrels per day until June this year.
“We are strong advocates of Opec’s decision to cut production to bring in a balance in supply and demand. We support any initiative that will lift oil prices. If that means extending the current agreement beyond the first six months, we will not block it,” Al Aufi said, adding; “However, we need to know the details – how long it is going to continue.”
Al Aufi noted that the original plan, which was taken before implementing crude oil supply cut, was to produce an average of 1,001,000 bpd this year. This was against last year’s average oil production of 1,004,300 barrels per day. “This was the highest oil production in the last 15 years,” Al Aufi noted.
He said that Oman would enhance its stock level and once the production cap is lifted, the country will be able to produce one million barrels a day.
The oil and gas companies in Oman drilled 67 exploratory and appraisal wells last year, 43 of which were oil wells and 24 were gas wells.
Oil and gas reserves
Total reserves of crude oil and condensates in Oman at the end of 2016 was nearly 524.5 million barrels, a fall of 2.4 per cent in comparison with the previous year.
The average price of Oman Crude dropped by 29 per cent to $40.14 per barrel in 2016.
The average daily production of natural gas reached 106.1 million cubic meters per day in 2016, which indicates a growth of 2.4 per cent. This year, the plan is to produce 95 million cubic feet of non-associated gas and 18.3 million cubic feet of associated gas.
Also, the total expected natural gas reserves reached 24.79 trillion cubic feet by end-December 2016.