Oman runs hard to stand still

The sultanate’s long-term oil ambitions are modest, but the urgent appetite for fresh gas supply remains

Oman’s oil sector ambitions, set out in the government’s latest five-year development plan unveiled at the turn of the year, appear modest at first glance. Production is forecast to rise next year by a relatively unspectacular 10pc, to 1.1mn bl/d, and stay there until mid-decade. But this-near stasis is, in fact, hard-won—a mark of success in the constant battle to staunch and offset declines at the country’s maturing main fields. Meanwhile, the pacey industrial growth that forms a key plank of the country’s economic roadmap requires continued development of domestic gas resources to ease a precarious supply/demand balance. Economics challenge While modest oil output increments are targeted,