PDO outlines stiff 2030 emissions targets
Beyond a flashy pledge of long-term carbon-neutrality lie some meaningful medium-term goals that could substantially speed up Muscat’s lagging decarbonisation efforts
Scepticism was the reaction when state-controlled Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the sultanate’s main oil producer, unveiled plans in early September to become carbon-neutral by 2050. Like the government’s ‘goal’ to cut historic economic dependence on hydrocarbons by more than three-quarters within two decades, PDO’s superficially eye-catching aim essentially rebrands physical inevitability as environmental virtue. The country’s reserves/production ratio stood at a mere 15.4 years at end-2020, according to BP’s latest Annual Statistical Review. Barring the improbable discovery of a long-elusive elephant, Oman will have little crude left to pump by mid-century. PDO’s task since the early 2
Also in this section
24 April 2024
But even planned exploration activity is unlikely to reverse declining output from mature fields
23 April 2024
Cheaper Russian barrels and lower overall crude prices have helped cut key oil consumer’s import bills in election year
22 April 2024
Pursuing three different goals as part of the same package may mean achieving none of them
22 April 2024
Beijing’s renewed targeting of NOC management could threaten investment