China CNPC has extended its contract for developing an aged oilfield in Oman for another 15 years, Reuters quotes Chinese state oil and group as saying.

CNPC had won a 50% stake in Oman Block 5, an oilfiled that covers an area of 992sqkm (383sq miles) but its productivity was limited to 700 tonnes of crude oil a day after more than a decade of over-rapid drilling, according to CNPC website. CNPC was able to raise output at Block 5 to 2.62 million tonnes in 2018 (about 52, 400 barrels per day (bpd) with production reaching 1.33 million tonnes in the first of this year. CNPC uses technology such as horizontal water injection, which is highly used and effective in China.

China remains largest importer of Omani crude oil and condensates, according to Omani government data. A 2018 annual report released by Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), China accounted for 83.1% of all crude oil and condensate imports from Oman, amounting to 240.4 million barrels. It was also Oman’s leading importer of oil in 2016 and 2017, when it accounted for 78% (251.1 million barrels) and 76.9 percent (226.3 million barrels) respectively.

The NCSI report added that Oman’s production from refineries and petroleum industries increased by 23.5% in 2018 to reach 113.2 million barrels compared with about 91.7 millions barrels in the previous year. In 2018, Oman produced 357.1 million barrels of oil, of which 289.3 were exported. Production decreased slightly (354.3 million barrels) and exports increased slightly (294.2 million barrels) in 2017. Production was a bit higher in 2016 (367.3 million barrels), as were exports, which stood at 321.9 million barrels, the report added.