Oman’s oil exports jump 18% as Q1 output rises 8.7%

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Muscat – Oman’s daily average production of crude oil increased to 1.04mn barrels per day (bpd) during the first quarter of 2022, up by 8.7 per cent in comparison to 953,600 bpd output recorded in the same period of last year.

The sultanate’s total oil production in the first three months of this year grew by 8.7 per cent to 93.3mn barrels compared to 85.8mn barrels in the same period of 2021, according to the statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

Of the total production, crude output jumped by 12.2 per cent year-on-year to 73.7mn barrels during the first quarter, while condensates output decreased 2.7 per cent to 19.6mn barrels during January – March period.

Oman’s total oil exports grew by 18 per cent during the first three months of 2022 to 81.6mn barrels as compared with 69.2mn barrels recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, the NCSI data showed.

The sultanate’s total oil exports for the full year 2021 had inched up 0.7 per cent to 288.9mn barrels from 287mn barrels in 2020.

Exports to China and India rise

Exports to China, the biggest buyer of Oman’s crude, accounted for nearly 79 per cent of the sultanate’s total oil exports during the first quarter of this year.

Total exports to China grew by 9.4 per cent at 64.3mn barrels during January – March period of this year compared to 58.8mn barrels recorded in 2021.

On the other hand, exports to India jumped by 44.4 per cent to more than 12mn barrels in the first three months of this year from 8.3mn barrels in the same period of 2021.

The average price at which Oman sold its crude during the first quarter of 2022 surged by nearly 60 per cent to US$79 per barrel against US$49.5 per barrel recorded in the same period of 2021. The average price for March stood at US$83.6 per barrel, the NCSI data showed.

With global oil prices remaining high amid Russia – Ukraine conflict, Oman crude prices recently rose to their highest level in more than eight years. Oman crude price on Friday stood at US$99.52 per barrel (for June delivery) at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine has sent oil prices up sharply and led to major economies, such as the US and Canada, sanctioning Russia by banning imports of oil.