IOC stalwarts deliver Omani gas boost

Shell and TotalEnergies have agreed to execute a major integrated development and bought into the government’s gas-led strategy

Two of Oman’s oldest IOC partners, Shell and TotalEnergies, delivered a momentous boost to the sultanate’s gas ambitions at the end of last year by signing up to develop known reserves in the centre of the country. The latest agreement—the significance of which is both practical and symbolic—follows several recent fillips for Oman’s previously sluggish gas sector, representing grounds for optimism for the country’s economic resilience as its oil industry heads into terminal decline. Crucially, the majors also agreed to utilise production in new downstream businesses consistent with the sultanate’s efforts to decarbonise its bedrock energy sector. When European majors in particular are optimi