Oman oil: ‘Crude output to cross 1mbpd mark in 2016’

Muscat: Oman’s oil production will average more than a million barrels per day in 2016 for the first time in history.
All through the past decade, the country’s per day average oil production has remained consistently just below the one million barrels mark, but according to officials from the Ministry of Oil and Gas, by the end of this year, it will cross that threshold.
Highlighting Oman’s excellence in the oil and gas industry at a seminar organised by the Omani French Friendship Association, Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy, the Minister of Oil and Gas, made an announcement to this effect.
Pre-crisis period
“We are producing more oil than we produced in the pre-crisis period and our production will average more than a million barrels a day this year for the first time in history,” he said, attributing the success to the efforts made by the oil and gas sector in Oman.
According to Dr. Al Rumhy, although both income and revenues have come down by nearly 50 percent when compared years that saw higher oil prices, Oman has kept up its level of investments and is sticking to the plans made in 2013-2014.
“While most countries reduced the expenditure, either by cutting investments or slashing jobs, Oman did not take that route. We have kept investments in the oil and gas sector as planned earlier and have increased our business activities,” he said.
Exploration programmes
In order to cut costs during the low revenue period, it is often tempting to slowdown exploration programmes since any tangible benefits these yield become visible at a much later stage. However, Oman’s oil and gas exploration programmes have remained on track. One outcome of this approach of the government, Dr Al Rumhy said, was higher production of oil.
He added that this period cannot be termed as a crisis but rather a catalyst to drive the economy out of stagnation. “We always need a catalyst to help us do more in an area and low oil prices are just such an occasion. We need to push more in our respective sectors and become more efficient,” he noted.