Oman forecasts lower oil output
December 5, 2004
Oman, which has been battling to halt a drop in oil production, is estimating a lower daily output of 750 000 barrels next year, the national economy minister said in remarks published Sunday.
"Oman's daily oil production is expected to be approximately 750 000 (barrels) in 2005. The target is made after considering all technical factors that are affecting the production," Ahmad bin Abdel Nabi Meki
was quoted as saying in the Times of Oman.
Estimated production for next year is 4.1 percent down on the figure for the first nine months of 2004 and 8.4 percent lower than output for all of last year, the daily said.
Oman exported 197.4 million barrels of crude in the first nine months of this year, 5.5 percent lower than the same period of 2003.
Daily average production in 2003 was 819 500 barrels, down 8.7 percent from 898,000 the year before.
State-run Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), an exploration and production company, last week attributed the drop to a steep decline in its daily output from 840,000 barrels per day in 2000 to 660 000 bpd by the end of last month.
PDO's production accounts for more than 90 percent of Oman's total oil output.
The minister said his country follows "realistic and flexible" policies when it comes to estimating oil production, prices and revenues.
The price of oil for this year was estimated at 21 dollars a barrel compared to 23 dollars for 2005, compared with maket prices hovering around 40 dollars.
Oman, a small non-OPEC oil producer, remains heavily dependent on oil revenues, which account for around 80 percent of the country's export earnings and 40 percent of GDP.
According to the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, the latest available figures show Oman has proven gas reserves of around 859
billion cubic metres (30.3 trillion cubic feet).
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