Oman’s net oil revenue surges by 43 per cent to OMR2.56b

Muscat: A smart recovery in crude oil prices has resulted in a surge in the Oman government’s net oil revenues, which soared by 43 per cent to OMR2,564.7 million for the first seven months of 2017. This is against OMR1,794.1 million for the January-July period of last year, according to the latest monthly statistical bulletin released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) on Thursday.
The average price of Oman Crude shot up by 35.4 per cent to $51 per barrel during the seven-month period, from $37.6 per barrel for the January-July period of 2016. This is against the government’s assumed price of $45 per barrel, for estimating budget revenues for this year.
The Sultanate produced 235.33 million barrels of crude oil and condensates in the first seven months of 2017, against 244.79 million barrels during the same period last year, indicating a fall of 3.9 per cent. The daily average production of crude oil was also lower, at 968,500 barrels this year, against 1,003,200 barrels last year.
Also, revenues from natural gas increased by 6.9 per cent to OMR832.6 million during the January-July period of 2017, against OMR778.9 million for the same period last year.
However, corporate income tax revenue declined by 7.3 per cent to OMR307.4 million during the period, while income from customs duty fell by 35.9 per cent to OMR117.4 million.
Total revenue
Total government revenue also surged by 25.7 per cent to OMR4.70 billion during the January-July period 2017, from OMR3.74 billion for the same period of last year, thanks to a substantial growth in net oil revenues.
Also, total budget expenditures of the government during the seven-month period fell by 2.7 per cent to OMR6.49 billion from OMR6.66 billion.
Current expenditures edged down by 0.8 per cent to OMR4.53 billion, while investment expenditure fell by 4 per cent to OMR1.61 billion during the January-July period.
The Sultanate’s budget deficit for the first seven months of this year declined by 35.7 per cent to OMR2.58 billion from OMR4.02 billion for the same period of 2016. If the trend continues, market analysts believe the government will be in a comfortable position to control its deficit for the entire year at OMR4 billion.
The Oman government, in January, said its budget expenditures and revenues are expected to reach OMR11.7 billion and OMR8.7 billion, leaving an estimated deficit of OMR3 billion for 2017.
Since the beginning of this year, the Oman government has adopted a series of measures to bring down the deficit, which included both austerity measures and steps to enhance non-oil revenues.
These measures included the removal of the subsidy on petroleum products, an increase in the price of natural gas supplied to industries, an increase in the corporate income tax, a rise in fees for several government services, and a control on new appointments in the public sector.
All these measures, along with a smart recovery in crude oil prices following a decision to cut crude oil production of Opec (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-Opec members, have substantially aided the authorities in controlling the deficit.