The oil and gas industry has remained neutral to the crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries, the Omani oil minister said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
 
“We have no problem with Qatar. It is a complicated subject… but Qatar is exporting gas to UAE [United Arab Emirates] and Oman and this process has continued which is good,” Oman's oil minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Rumhi said during a ministerial panel at the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).
 
“I think that the energy (sector) is not featured in this what I call a ‘misunderstanding’ between nations which happens from time to time,” Al-Rumhi said.
 
A regional rift erupted in the region in June this year with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, along with Egypt, cutting diplomatic and some commercial ties with Qatar on accusations that Doha supported terrorists. Qatar has denied the allegations.
 
Despite the dispute, which has continued for over five months, Qatar said it had no plans to halt supplying the UAE with natural gas through the Dolphin gas pipeline that links Qatar with both the UAE and Oman.
 
“I think the energy sector has remained very neutral and we are talking to each other and we are exchanging information so I hope other sectors will follow suit,” Al-Rumhi added.
 
The Dolphin pipeline, which was the Gulf’s first cross-border gas project, pumps 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day to the UAE.
 
Speaking generally on the impact of geopolitical events in the oil industry, the UAE energy minister Suhail Al Mazroui said at ADIPEC: “We have been in this region for long enough to see few tensions and I think the oil (industry) has always been protected from geopolitical tensions and I hope it will stay that way.”

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