Oman’s upstream sector contains a mixture of major IOCs, state-backed firms and small- and mid-size players. Dominant is state-linked firm Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which operates the 600,000 b/d Block 6 stretching from the country’s north to south, but Oman has also turned to a host of smaller firms to try and unlock more marginal assets.

One of the most prominent mid-sized players in Oman is state firm OQ, whose 1H 2023 working interest output averaged 141,800 b/d crude and condensate (up 5.9% y-o-y) and 471mn cfd gas (down 3%). The firm’s most prominent oil output gains have come from its Block 60 asset where the Bisat oil field hit full 60,000 b/d capacity in January (MEES, 27 January). (CONTINUED - 806 WORDS)