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Oil output increase of 30% sought in Oman block offer

By Saleh Al-Shaibany
Oman oil blocks OQ Exploration and Production
OQ Exploration and Production and the Canadian-based Scotiabank have started marketing 11 new oil concession blocks
  • 11 new oil concessions
  • Hope for 300,000 bpd more
  • Need for extra revenue

Oman is planning to offer 11 new oil concession blocks across the country this year, as it seeks to raise production by a third by the end of the decade.

The ministry of energy and minerals, through the state-run company OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) and the Canadian-based Scotiabank, have started marketing the potential blocks.

“The Ministry of Energy and Minerals has announced the launch of new investment opportunities in cooperation with OQEP and Scotiabank with 11 blocks which are under way in 2025, where the aim is to increase production,” Oman Television said, quoting a statement issued by the state Oman News Agency.

In February, the energy ministry invited bids for three onshore oil and gas concessions. It is not clear whether the 11 announced this week include those three.

The locations for the new concessions cover a total area of 5,632 sq km and are expected to increase Oman’s crude oil production to 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1 million bpd at present, the television station said.

The country’s proven oil and condensate reserves stood at 4.9 billion barrels in 2022, according to the ministry of energy, but production in the sultanate, which is a member of Opec+, the larger producers’ group including Russia, has been in long-term decline.

Average daily crude oil production fell 5 percent in 2024, to 992,600 barrels per day (bpd), figures from the National Centre of Statistical Information showed in February.

The concessions will bring in much-needed revenue for Oman, which is forecasting a budget deficit of OR620 million ($1.6 billion) this year.

Oman has based its oil price in 2025 on an average oil price of $60 a barrel.

The sultanate relies heavily on its crude oil exports, which make up more than 70 percent of its national revenues. 

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