In 2015, Oman’s average oil and condensate production was 981,000 b/d compared to 943,000 b/d in 2014. The gas production in 2015 was 103 Mm3/d, almost the same as achieved in 2014, informed H.E. Salim bin Nasser Al-Aufi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Oil & Gas while speaking at the Ministry’s annual media briefing. The average oil price realized in 2015 was $54.5 a barrel. The highest price point was $78.2 and the lowest was $45.8.

He further added that Oman added 437 million barrels to the oil and condensate reserves in 2015. As a result, Oman’s total oil and condensate reserves stand at 5.373 billion barrels. On the other hand, the gas reserves have come down nominally to 23tcf. If we look at the reserve replacement ratio (RRR) for the five year period ending in 2015, it has been 1.28 for oil & condensate and 1.76 for gas.

Talking about the expenditure in 2015, he said, “we spent $11.4 billion including $8.2 billion towards oil sector and $3.2 billion for the gas sector”. He added that the overall actual expenditure was lower than the budgeted figure and it excludes the expenses towards Orpic and some other company(s). He refused to divulge the investment outlay for 2016.

In OGR’s opinion, if the oil prices continue to move up and even if the recovery is gradual, and the sector increases its reliance on banks for raising project finance, we may not see any further drop in investment outlay for 2016.

On the Omanisation front, H.E. Aufi said that 1130 new jobs for Omanis (in the operating companies) were created in 2015. As a result, the total number of Omanis in the sector went up to 13,130 and the average Omanisation rate is 79 per cent.

He further clarified that most of the above mentioned numbers are based on preliminary estimates.