Oman adds new oil, condensate reserves 13

Oman last year added 517 million barrels of oil and condensate reserve, and 7.94 Trillion Cubic Meters (tcm) of gas, Salem Al-Oufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said Monday.At the annual news conference at the ministry, Al-Oufi said these additions came through new discoveries and reassessment of the producing fields. He said the total oil and condensate reserves in Oman stood at 5.150 billion barrels and 24.93 Trillion Cubic Feet (tcf) by the end of 2013.He added that the average production of oil in 2013 stood at 942,000 barrel of crude oil and condensate, a growth by 2.5 percent compared to 2012. The average gas production in 2013 was 3.7 percent compared to 2012 to hit 102 million cubic meters per day (mcm/d) (including 83 mcm of non-associated gas and 19 mcm of associated gas).Al-Oufi said average production in the coming five years was expected to be between 950,000-960,000 barrels per day for oil and 120 mcm per day for gas.The government, he added, was making continuous efforts to encourage local and foreign investors to invest in oil and gas projects, such as exploration, production, refining, setting up gas-based industries and setting up downstream industries.Total expenditure on oil and gas exploration and production in 2013 stood at USD 10 billion, he said.