Oman’s gas production levels are set to surpass oil by 2023 thanks to an impressive surge in the development of gas fields in the sultanate, according to Rystad Energy
Aditya Saraswat, an analyst at Rystad Energy, said, “Gas is on the rise in Oman, and this transition is very timely. Oil output declines over the last two years may indicate a point of no return for Omani oil, but the country’s sliding oil production is set to be replaced by gas.”
At peak production in 2016, Oman’s oil output reached 900,000 bpd, declining to 870,000 bpd by 2018.
Rystad Energy, the independent energy research and consulting firm headquartered in Norway, estimated that by 2025 oil production will decrease by an additional 200,000 bpd, as output from older fields continues to decrease.
As new oilfield developments have failed to stabilise the country’s crude output, Oman has shifted its focus to invest in gas developments. This will lead to an increase in gas production to approximately 130 mcmd by 2025, shifting Oman’s oil-gas production mix from around 35 per cent gas in 2015 to more than 50 per cent in 2025.
“This is a tremendous turnaround from the near-stagnant 80 mcmd of gas output from 2008 through 2016,” Saraswat added.
“Amidst rising global LNG demand and the increasingly lucrative domestic gas market, international players are favouring gas developments in Oman. The strengthened gas market will help gas production levels to outshine Oman’s dwindling oil production, with gas output projected to overtake oil by 2023,” he concluded.
