Oman - carry on pumping

It is part of the Opec deal to cut production — but Muscat's long-term goal is to do anything but

For Oman's oil sector, 2016—despite the hurt caused by low global oil prices—was something of a red-letter year. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the country's dominant producer, came close to reaching its 0.6m-barrel-a-day target two years ahead of schedule; and Oman's total output topped 1m b/d. It might be understandable therefore to find PDO's technical director Amran al-Marhubi feeling a little despondent at the prospect of his company now having to bear the lion's share of the 45,000-b/d cutback agreed by Oman as part of the recent Opec/non-Opec deal to boost prices. But not a bit of it. Sitting in his modestly furnished office on the second floor of the old wing of PDO's Muscat headq