Wednesday 27 / November / 2024
Muscat: OQ, a global integrated energy group, marks its 40th anniversary on November 14th, 2022. The group was founded on the same day back in 1982 when the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, May Allah bless his spirit, inaugurated Oman Oil Refinery Company (ORPIC) in Mina Al Fahl to serve as the first refinery in the Sultanate of Oman.
This ushered in the journey of the Sultanate towards maximising the added value of its natural wealth of oil and gas by refining oil derivatives and establishing a giant industry in the petrochemical sector. This sector has become one of the most important downstream industries that made its way to reach its current state of development and growth spanned over four decades, with many large investment projects in various governorates.
The Group has assets of about $31.63 billion. This makes it one of the largest energy companies in the Sultanate of Oman. The operations and activities of OQ cover the entire value chain; starting from exploration and production, operations of refineries and petrochemicals sector, to the added value of oil and gas products, as well as trading and marketing.
Over the past 40 years, OQ Group has supported and promoted the government’s plans for economic diversification by providing production inputs to many industries related to oil, gas and petrochemical derivatives, as well as producing fuel derivatives in the Sultanate of Oman through its refineries. Furthermore, the group has attracted foreign investments and entered into partnerships with international companies inside the Sultanate and abroad. OQ’s exports to various countries around the world have enhanced the brand of Omani industries and strengthened national capabilities in engineering.
Additionally, OQ has achieved significant successes in expanding into global markets. The group operates in 17 countries across five continents and sells its products to more than 3000 clients in over 80 countries. This international expansion has enabled it to be one of the most prominent players in the petrochemical industries markets and to contribute to the access of Omani products to various countries of the world.
The Group undertakes exploration and production services as part of its investments. The total production of oil from its operating assets and investment partnerships reached 219 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day during the first half of 2022. This represents 12.6 percent of Oman’s total oil production. Block 60 is considered one of the most significant concession areas owned by the group which include Bisat field where OQ managed to increase the production from 14 thousand to 57 thousand barrels of oil equivalent in three years.
The group has partnerships with many international companies for managing and operating many concession areas, both locally and internationally.
OQ owns many development projects that mark a milestone in upstream industries inside the Sultanate of Oman. This enhanced the group’s contribution to developing the industrial sector and promoted the petrochemical industries. The Liwa Plastics Industries Complex is one of the largest investments in the Sultanate of Oman. The group also owns OQ Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Plant, OQ Ammonia Plant, the Methanol Plant in Dhofar Governorate, the Omani Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO) in the Wilayat of Duqm, the Aromatics plant and the polypropylene plant in Sohar, in addition to the investment partnership at Duqm Refinery “OQ 8”. These projects are considered a major economic pillar that supplies the country with many products. They also enable the establishment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Refineries stand out among the most significant investments of OQ as part of its endeavors to provide various fuel derivatives.
The group with strong asset base is well positioned to maximize value from Oman’s energy sources and power transition towards a sustainable future, with Alternative Energy playing an integral role for OQ as an “Energy Transition Enabler”. At the centre of OQ Alternate Energy’s efforts is Decarbonization of OQ’s assets and securing future growth, and to achieve that number of initiatives have been progressed in the areas of Energy Excellence, Clean Energy and Low Carbon Molecules.
In the clean energy field, OQ AE is progressing with the development of opportunities to support decarbonization of OQ’s upstream and downstream assets by swapping a portion of their power from grey energy to renewable energy. OQ AE has also been named by MEM as the national champion to coordinate, develop and execute this swap from grey energy sources to clean energy sources for other operators in Oman’s upstream oil and gas blocks
Further for Low Carbon Molecules production OQ has made great strides by signing joint development agreements and memoranda of understanding to develop four mega green hydrogen projects for the production of green ammonia with prominent international partners in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, Wusta Governorate and Dhofar. These mega projects include Hyport Duqm Project, Green Energy Oman Project (GEO), Hydrogen Oman Project (H2Oman), and Salalah 2 Project.
OQ Group plays an important role in enhancing the in-country added value in all legislative, regulatory and executive aspects with the objective of enriching local markets, maximizing the value of its investments, and promoting the supply chains of the group through its operations. It achieves this objective through some steps the most important of which are increasing the total value of its expenditures in the Sultanate of Oman, supporting SMEs, favouring national industries, developing technical skill, obligating the contractors and suppliers with the in-country added value conditions and abiding by the succession and Omanisation policies.
OQ Group attaches great importance to social investment, as one of its main pillars. It has implemented about 25 social investment projects across the governorates of the Sultanate. These projects cover the education, health and environment sectors, embody its corporate social responsibility and highlight the efforts exerted by the group to serve local communities. OQ also strives to build strong relationships with relevant stakeholders. It seeks to create new opportunities for growth and partnerships by planning and implementing social projects to contribute to achieving the desired social and economic development in the Sultanate of Oman.
