New Refinery Capacity to Cut Oman Crude Oil Exports
Oman's crude oil exports will drop by about 50,000 barrels per day when new refining capacity comes onstream in the northern city of Sohar by early 2017, Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammad bin Hamad al-Rumhy said on Wednesday. Rumhy said the refinery project had been due to be commissioned by the end of 2016, but there had been a delay so the commissioning date would be in the first quarter of next year. The project would increase the Sohar refinery's capacity by between 65 and 70 percent. "It will take an additional 70 to 90,000 bpd. And with the increase in Oman's average oil production to exceed a million bpd, we expect the drop in our oil exports to be 50,000 bpd compared to last year," Rumhy said in an interview.
Oil Prices Consolidate Gains As Ministers Back Cuts Continuation
Oil prices last Tuesday (Oct. 26) consolidated recent gains, moving sideways after a bounce last week. International benchmark Brent crude traded seven cents higher $22.90 a barrel after leaping 80 cents on Oct. 22. The gains came after fresh signals from oil producers including the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that they would consider extending the duration of limits on exports. On Tuesday Omani Oil Minister Mohammad bin Hamad Seif al-Ramhi said he backed a continuation of the cuts beyond their expiry in March. Oman is one of a handful of non-OPEC producers that took part in global output cuts that rescued oil prices from less than $10 earlier this year.
