This comes in the wake of an increase in global oil and fuel prices as demand steadily returns to pre-pandemic levels in countries such as India and China.

The two countries are also the largest importers of Omani oil. It is known that China retained its position as the leading destination for the Sultanate’s crude oil exports by the end of December 2020.

China’s imports of the Sultanate’s crude oil stood at 248.12mn barrels, followed by India with 17.80mn barrels, South Korea with 4.99mn barrels, and Japan with 3.92mn barrels.

As per the International Energy Agency, oil prices in Asia, Europe and the United States all scaled to one-year highs this week, while benchmark global crude oil Brent futures topped US$60 per barrel for the first time in a year.

The Sultanate’s oil production, including condensates, stood at 347.94mn barrels until the end of December 2020, compared to 354.39mn barrels according to the latest data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Of the total production, crude oil production declined by 9.1 per cent to stand at 278.84mn barrels while condensate production rose by 45.2 per cent to touch 69.10mn barrels.

The Sultanate’s daily average crude oil production stood at 950,700 barrels until the end of December 2020, against 970,900 barrels over the same period of 2019, the NCSI report added.