Wednesday 03 / July / 2024
Muscat: The prices of gold and oil in Oman have shown a slight dip after spiking on Monday, owing to current trade conditions and geopolitical incidents.
Prices of Oman crude oil listed on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange dipped below $70 a barrel, after briefly crossing that figure on Monday afternoon, as the price of gold also dipped slightly, but continued to remain high.
24-carat gold cost customers in the Sultanate about OMR19.8 per gram, and 22-carat gold, on the other hand, has been priced at OMR19.1 per gram. This represented a dip of 200 baisa since Monday, when 24-carat gold cost OMR20 per gram, and 22-carat gold OMR19.3.
“We expect the prices of gold to remain high throughout the coming year, owing to the current trade disputes between the US and China, which make investors unsure about the returns they will get on their current investments,” said the manager of a gold store in Muscat. “However, gold has always been a safe form of investment, and because people are looking for safety in their investments, the demand for it has gone up.”
In terms of oil prices, A statement from the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, issued on Tuesday, said, “The marker prices on January 7 for March 2020’s Oman crude oil futures contract was $69.08, with there being a change of -$1.37”. On Monday, the cost of Oman’s crude oil prices crossed the $70 mark to touch $70.45, with DME saying at the time, “the marker price on January 6 for March 2020’s Oman crude oil futures contract was $70.45, with a change of $1.83.”
An official at an oil and gas company in the Sultanate said, “As expected, the price of oil has come down after spiking, owing to geopolitical events.
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There are occasional spikes in the price of oil owing to events happening all over the globe, but these fluctuations in prices only last for a few days at best.”
Gold prices continued to remain high across the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries – in the United Arab Emirates, 22 carat gold was priced at AED177.5 per gram, while 24 carat gold was at OMR188.75 per gram. In Qatar, 22-carat gold will set back customers 181 Qatari riyals, while 24-carat gold will be priced at 191 Qatari riyals.
In Kuwait, 22-carat gold will cost 14.95 Kuwaiti dinars per gram, and 24-carat gold has been priced at 15.75 Kuwaiti dinars per gram. People in Saudi Arabia will have to pay 181 Saudi riyals per gram of 22 carat gold, and 194 Saudi riyals for a gram of 24-carat gold. Over in Bahrain, gold is being sold at 18.4 Bahraini dinars for a gram of 22-carat gold, and 19.4 Bahraini dinars for a gram of 24-carat gold.
Four territories currently use the Oman futures pricing system to sell their oil: Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Emirate of Dubai. Kuwait will switch to this system in February 2020.
Raid Al-Salami, DME Managing Director, said, “The combination of Oman’s historical role as a trusted benchmark with best-in-class technology, market regulation and physical delivery makes DME Oman a very compelling benchmark for national oil companies that want transparent price discovery for their crude oil exports.”
