01 April 2014
Muscat: Oman Oil Company, the Sultanate's investment arm, is interested in buying Occidental Petroleum's assets in the country, said a senior official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Occidental (Oxy), which plans to sell its Middle East assets, recently said that it may break up the assets in the Middle East region to sell it to individual countries, rather than its earlier plan to sell it to a consortium, due to the recent political tensions.
Earlier, state investment firms of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar formed a consortium to buy the US firm's assets in the Middle East, which is estimated to cost around $8 billion.
"If the offer comes, Oman Oil will be interested. We are always interested in any opportunity," Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said, in response to Times of Oman queries on the sidelines of Oil and Gas West Asia conference and exhibition.
"But at this moment, they are looking into who are the potential partners they can bring with them," Al Aufi said, adding, "Of course, Occidental will continue to be the operator and that is our
understanding."
The United States-based oil company, which is the second largest crude producer in Oman after Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), has interests in blocks 9, 27, 53 and 62 in Oman.
"Currently, Occidental is conducting a due diligence and there is no offer on the table," noted the undersecretary, adding; "They are talking to different governments, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman. They have already talked to the (Oman) government."
However, Al Aufi added that the sale of assets by Occidental would not have any impact on the operation of these oil blocks. "They are probably reducing their position in four blocks."
Storage facility
Responding to another question from Times of Oman on the present status of the proposed crude storage facility near Duqm, the undersecretary said the facility is designed for international players and Oman has secured few commitments from other countries for storing their crude oil.
Oman Oil Company and its subsidiary Takamul Investment Company have formed a joint venture firm -- Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO) -- to build, own and operate up to 200 million barrel oil terminal, which is going to be the largest crude storage terminal in the Middle East region, in Ras Markaz in Al Wusta region.
He said that the crude storage facility is now in design stage. "We are looking into the size and potential users," noted Al Aufi.
Al Aufi also said that some countries may be interested to become a partner. But at this point of time, it will be given on a lease basis. The cost for building the storage facility will depend on the size, which in turn will depend on the market demand, he noted.
The size and strategic geographic location of the terminal will provide an excellent opportunity for it to emerge as an important global hub in the Middle East for storage and trading like Singapore in Asia and Rotterdam in Europe.
EOR projects contribute 18%
Highlighting the importance of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects, the undersecretary said the country's oil production from EOR projects is almost 18 per cent of the total production and it is growing annually. "Even internationally, 18 per cent of the production coming from EOR projects is a significant portion.
Al Aufi also said that Oman uses different forms of EOR technology as easy oil is almost over and the country has difficult oil fields that require more innovation and technology.
Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry, formally opened the ninth edition of Omanexpo's Oil & Gas West Asia Exhibition and Conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel and Oman International Exhibition Centre.
The conference was opened with a welcome address by Dr Saleh Al Anboori, Director General of Management of Petroleum Investments at PDO, followed by executive speeches by Al Aufi; Raoul Restucci, Managing Director of PDO; and Fareed Abdullah, Society of Petroleum Engineers regional director.
The exhibition, which is seen to be the biggest edition since its launch in 1998 with almost 300 local and international participating companies to date, will once again be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and supported by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Oman Society of Petroleum Engineers (OPAL), Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), and the US Embassy.
To get in touch with the reporter: businesseditor@timesofoman.com
Muscat: Oman Oil Company, the Sultanate's investment arm, is interested in buying Occidental Petroleum's assets in the country, said a senior official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
Occidental (Oxy), which plans to sell its Middle East assets, recently said that it may break up the assets in the Middle East region to sell it to individual countries, rather than its earlier plan to sell it to a consortium, due to the recent political tensions.
Earlier, state investment firms of Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar formed a consortium to buy the US firm's assets in the Middle East, which is estimated to cost around $8 billion.
"If the offer comes, Oman Oil will be interested. We are always interested in any opportunity," Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said, in response to Times of Oman queries on the sidelines of Oil and Gas West Asia conference and exhibition.
"But at this moment, they are looking into who are the potential partners they can bring with them," Al Aufi said, adding, "Of course, Occidental will continue to be the operator and that is our
understanding."
The United States-based oil company, which is the second largest crude producer in Oman after Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), has interests in blocks 9, 27, 53 and 62 in Oman.
"Currently, Occidental is conducting a due diligence and there is no offer on the table," noted the undersecretary, adding; "They are talking to different governments, Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman. They have already talked to the (Oman) government."
However, Al Aufi added that the sale of assets by Occidental would not have any impact on the operation of these oil blocks. "They are probably reducing their position in four blocks."
Storage facility
Responding to another question from Times of Oman on the present status of the proposed crude storage facility near Duqm, the undersecretary said the facility is designed for international players and Oman has secured few commitments from other countries for storing their crude oil.
Oman Oil Company and its subsidiary Takamul Investment Company have formed a joint venture firm -- Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO) -- to build, own and operate up to 200 million barrel oil terminal, which is going to be the largest crude storage terminal in the Middle East region, in Ras Markaz in Al Wusta region.
He said that the crude storage facility is now in design stage. "We are looking into the size and potential users," noted Al Aufi.
Al Aufi also said that some countries may be interested to become a partner. But at this point of time, it will be given on a lease basis. The cost for building the storage facility will depend on the size, which in turn will depend on the market demand, he noted.
The size and strategic geographic location of the terminal will provide an excellent opportunity for it to emerge as an important global hub in the Middle East for storage and trading like Singapore in Asia and Rotterdam in Europe.
EOR projects contribute 18%
Highlighting the importance of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects, the undersecretary said the country's oil production from EOR projects is almost 18 per cent of the total production and it is growing annually. "Even internationally, 18 per cent of the production coming from EOR projects is a significant portion.
Al Aufi also said that Oman uses different forms of EOR technology as easy oil is almost over and the country has difficult oil fields that require more innovation and technology.
Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry, formally opened the ninth edition of Omanexpo's Oil & Gas West Asia Exhibition and Conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel and Oman International Exhibition Centre.
The conference was opened with a welcome address by Dr Saleh Al Anboori, Director General of Management of Petroleum Investments at PDO, followed by executive speeches by Al Aufi; Raoul Restucci, Managing Director of PDO; and Fareed Abdullah, Society of Petroleum Engineers regional director.
The exhibition, which is seen to be the biggest edition since its launch in 1998 with almost 300 local and international participating companies to date, will once again be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and supported by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Oman Society of Petroleum Engineers (OPAL), Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), and the US Embassy.
To get in touch with the reporter: businesseditor@timesofoman.com
© Times of Oman 2014
