Oman’s crude oil output grows 4% to 358m barrels in 2015

Muscat: Oman’s total crude oil and condensates production in 2015 grew almost 4 per cent to touch 358.10 million barrels, which is equivalent to 981,090 barrels per day. This is against 344.37 million barrels production in 2014, equivalent to 943,500 barrels per day.
Total crude oil exported in 2015 stood at 308.13 million barrels, a daily average of 844,207 barrels. The statistics also pointed out that China topped the list of importers of the Omani oil in 2015 by 77.1 per cent.
Further, the statistics showed that the average of the Omani oil price last year stood at $56.45 per barrel, against an average price of $103.23 per barrel in 2014.
According to the monthly report released by the Ministry of Oil and Gas, the Sultanate's total production of crude oil in December alone stood at 31.21 million barrels, a daily rate of 1,006,905 barrels, a growth of 1.12 per cent compared to the previous month.
The report pointed out that the total crude oil exports in December 2015 stood at 25.62 million barrels, a daily rate of 826,547 barrels, showing a growth of 0.77 per cent over the previous month.
The percentage of China's imports of the Omani crude oil in December 2015 comprised 68.16 per cent of the Omani oil exports, a marginal growth of 0.69 per cent compared to November, 2015. However, imports of Taiwan and South Korea fell by 5.30 per cent and 2.240 per cent, respectively, compared to November 2015.
The percentage of the Omani crude oil imported by India comprised 3.85 per cent, Japan 1.98 per cent and Thailand 0.03 per cent in comparison with November 2015. It should be noted that Australia imported quantities of the Omani crude oil during December 2015.
The report reflects the critical times experienced by the world oil markets and the remarkable slump of the trading in energy exchanges all over the world. It also reflects the direct and clear implications of this situation on the settlement prices for most reference oils in the world, pushing them sharply and consistently downwards, including Oman Oil Future Contracts. The trading was hovering around $30 during most days of the month. This slump is attributed to the US dollar appreciation and the high US crude oil reserves.
The Omani oil price rate for February 2016 delivery was at $34.59, showing a fall of$7.70, compared to the delivery price of January 2016. The trading price ranged between $40.54 and $31.21 per barrel.