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Oil refining production in the Arab countries surged by nearly 2 million barrels per day (bpd) at the end of 2025 compared with level at the end of 2022 following the full operation of the Duqm refinery in Oman, official figures show.
From around 9.6 million bpd at the end of 2022, the combined Arab refining capacity swelled to nearly 11.6 million bpd at the end of 2025, the Kuwait-based Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said in its annual oil report.
There was not major increase in the refining output in most regional countries except Oman, where refining production soared by nearly 230,000 bpd to around 534,000 bpd at the end of 2025 from 304,000 bpd at the end of 2022.
The surge in Oman’s refining output followed the commissioning of the $9 billion Duqm Refinery, a joint venture owned by the Omani government-owned OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International, a subsidiary of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
In February 2024, owners reported that the Duqm Refinery on Oman’s east coast was running at full output capacity of nearly 230,000 bpd.
Duqm is the largest oil refinery in Oman and is part of ongoing plans to diversify the country’s sources of income. Officials said in 2024 that the Duqm facility would eventually double Oman’s refinery output capacity to around 500,000 bpd.
OAPEC’s report showed Saudi Arabia had by far the largest refining industry at the end of 2025, with a capacity of 3.29 million bpd, nearly a third of the total Arab capacity.
Kuwait emerged as the second largest Arab refining base following the full commissioning of the 615,000-bpd Al-Zour refinery in South Kuwait. The report showed Kuwait’s refining production stood at around 1.45 million bpd at the end of 2025.
Iraq came third with around 1.33 million bpd, followed by the UAE with nearly 1.23 million bpd, according to the report.
Other key producers include Egypt with around 829,000 bpd, Algeria with 663,000 bpd, Libya with 634,000 bpd, Qatar with 433,000 bpd and Bahrain with 360,000 bpd.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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