Friday 19 / April / 2024
Muscat: Oman’s expansion into the tourism and logistics sectors will provide many opportunities for companies in the Sultanate, and Oman Oil plans on being one of them.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, David Kalife, CEO of Oman Oil Marketing Company (OOMC), said the company was very keen on providing services that would help tourists and businesses in the years to come, through a variety of partnerships that would help both companies and customers alike. These range from providing quality aviation fuel to e-fill services for people to fill up easily.
“We are proud to be Omani and take our representation not just in Oman but in the GCC as well,” said Kalife.
“We want to be among the fifth largest fuel marketing companies in the GCC and we believe this is achievable. We have 40 per cent of the fuel market in the aviation sector, and we renewed our contract with Oman Air for another two years and we also have a tender with SalamAir.”
“When you look at the national plan for economic growth, Tanfeedh, tourism is a big part of this and when you talk about tourism, aviation is a big part of it,” he added.
Kalife also shared Oman Oil Marketing Company’s activities in the logistics sector.
“We are establishing 30,000 square metres of bunkering in Duqm and Salalah because this represents the opportunity to do good business with other companies in a new area of the country, which will soon be coming to these cities because of the industrial and commercial expansion there. Logistics support is also a part of the Tanfeedh plan, and with the new airport coming up in Duqm, this represents new opportunities for us there,” he said.
“We had a presence in Sohar but we stopped it for a while and we are looking at working on another presence in Sohar in the future,” said Kalife.
Supply of fuel
“Bunkering, or the supply of fuel for use by ships, is part of our national strategy. Duqm and Salalah are, after all, located very strategically, and are poised to grow in the future. When ships come here, whether they are stopping at either of these two cities or are going past the Strait of Hormuz in Musandam, they will definitely need fuel and we want to provide it. We will also provide services for navy ships in the region should they need it, because there are special docks being built in Duqm, as well as Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat to service them.”
“The demand for LNG is also growing,” added Kalife. “Asia is also a very big consumer of LNG, possibly one of the largest in the world. If you are supplying it as fuel to boats, then they will come to Oman and that is what the government wants. By 2030, LNG could amount for 10 per cent of fuel needs so we need to account for this and provide the necessary facilities to them.”
In addition, digital services are being rolled out for customers to top up their fuel payments online, allowing them to avoid spending time at fuel stations and providing shorter wait times for motorists at fuel pumps.
“This e-fill service is part of our digital roadmap for three years,” said Kalife.
“e-fill is currently in its testing phase in four stations across Muscat and when we roll it out, we will have it at stations all across Oman. Going to the station must not be a painful experience and we need to delight customers. We want to have happy customers.”
“Digitisation will lead to happy customers because it is happy, quick and easy,” he added. “We want to try to gain big in customers’ loyalty. Our motto is ‘you trust, we care’ and that is the core quality of any customer relationship. If you don’t have trust or you don’t care, then you are finished.”
