May 5, 2015 The Oil & Gas Year, in partnership with the Ministry of Oil & Gas and the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), conducted its third strategic roundtable for Oman, in Muscat, on May 4, 2015. The event was held in the Conference Room at the Occidental Office. Occidental of Oman Inc. and Halliburton sponsored the event.

Led by His Excellency Salim Al Aufi, the Undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, participants of the Strategic Roundtable discussed issues such as anti-competitiveness, lack of transparency during the tendering process and the need to increase the Omanisation rate. The challenges encountered by local service companies were heavily discussed and potential solutions offered by both contractors and operators. President of BP Oman Yousuf Al Ojaili, Managing Director of Petroleum Development Oman Raoul Restucci, Robert Swain, Vice President and General Manager of Occidental Oman, Managing Director at Halliburton Oman Zeinoun Klink, and Hamoud Al Tobi, CEO of Al Shawamikh Oil Services, were among the participants. An audience of local service companies were also provided the opportunity to ask questions to the panel regarding the theme of the event: the development of local service companies.

In response to Oman sliding 13 places down the Global Competitiveness Index to rank 46, H.E. Salim Al Aufi agreed that higher education and training on offer in Oman must align further with the demands of the oil and gas industry. The CEO of Galfar Engineering & Contracting, Hans Erlings, spoke about the difficulties of Omanising labour-intensive positions within the engineering and construction sectors.

Dr. Hamoud Al Tobi, the CEO at Alshawamikh Oil Services, one of the government established and PDO supported super local community contractors, argued that it is important for local communities to reap the benefits of oil and gas revenue, while creating competitive Omani firms. According to Al Tobi, the contracts awarded to the four super local community contractors and local community contractors should not be observed as entitlements, but as a policy formulated to strengthen local service companies.

Both Petroleum Development Oman and Occidental Oman confirmed that there will not be a slowdown in production. PDO aims to increase oil output to 600,000 barrels of oil per day by 2019.

On the topic of privatisation, H.E. Salim Al Aufi confirmed that Orpic needs to experience a few years of sustained profitability before undergoing partial privatisation. Abraj Energy Services and other subsidiaries of Oman Oil Company may also be denationalised in coming years to boost efficiency. The government official confirmed the budget deficit of $6.47 billion was not the reason behind plans to denationalise government-owned entities. 

The strategic roundtable will be published in The Oil & Gas Year Oman 2015, which is due to be launched in August 2015.

The Oil & Gas Year is the flagship title of Wildcat International, publisher of business intelligence resources. The Oil & Gas Year is a series of executive books focussed on individual hydrocarbons territories. The reports are both valuable resources and critical business tools for energy investors, highlighting and promoting key actors and opportunities. The Oil & Gas Year distributes to more than 69,000 readers in 100 countries worldwide.

Contact: Aydanur Akkurt, The Oil & Gas Year, +90 212 251 0640, aydanur@theoilandgasyear.com www.theoilandgasyear.com

The Oil & Gas Year is the flagship title of Wildcat International, publisher of business intelligence resources. The Oil & Gas Year is a series of executive books focussed on individual hydrocarbons territories. The reports are both valuable resources and critical business tools for energy investors, highlighting and promoting key actors and opportunities. The Oil & Gas Year distributes to more than 69,000 readers in 100 countries worldwide.

Contact:
Aydanur Akkurt,
The Oil & Gas Year,
+90 212 251 0640,
aydanur@theoilandgasyear.com
www.theoilandgasyear.com

Press Release 2015