Oman - against the odds

Oman hopes to sustain oil production by refocussing its upstream strategy, developing new technologies and securing international financing

Away from the spotlight trained on the fiscal woes of the major Gulf producers, Oman is quietly consolidating its oil sector. Despite a sharp fall in revenue, the sultanate is determinedly pressing ahead with upstream development, enabling oil production to plateau at just over 1m barrels a day, up from 0.918m b/d in 2012. As proof of sustained upstream activity, Baker Hughes data show that the country's rig count in July and August this year (65) matched the figure in the same period of 2015. The bulk of Oman's oil production (nearly 70%) comes from fields operated by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), of which the government owns 60%, with the remaining stakes held by Shell, Total and Parte