Oman produced 1.078mn b/d of crude and condensate in March, Ministry of Oil and Gas figures released this week indicate. This is an all-time record, shattering its previous 1.015mn b/d set in November 2016. Production averaged 971,000 b/d in 2019 – 841,000 b/d crude and 130,000 b/d condensate. The sudden ramp up is even more impressive considering that it only commenced after the collapse of the Opec+ agreement on 6 March (MEES, 6 March).

Officials have long downplayed the sultanate’s spare production capacity, with oil minister Muhammad al-Rumhy stating in 2018 that “Our fields are extremely difficult. I don’t think we could boost our production to 1.5mn b/d or 1.2mn or 1.1mn. ” (MEES, 19 January 2018). (CONTINUED - 160 WORDS)