Nassir bin Khamis al Jashmi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Chairman of Oman Oil Company revealed that a study is being conducted to measure the possibility of establishing integration between the local gas companies and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2013.
The study aims at fostering co-operation between Oman Liquid Natural Gas (OLNG) Company and Qalhat LNG, Al Jashmi told reporters during a celebration held by Oman Oil Company on the launch of a student training programme pointing out that the study targets to evaluate the economic feasibility and the possible consequences of the integration.
The result of the study will determine whether or not to go ahead with the integration ruling out the probability of a complete merger between the two companies. Al Jashmi also said scientific studies are under way to ratchet up the contribution of local investments in the oil and gas sector adding that international consultancy firms have been entrusted with conducting a total survey for the current market to identify the opportunities available for local companies to invest in the field of oil and gas.
The share of the local component in the oil and gas sector will be determined on light of this survey. Regarding the fire that broke out at Mina Al Fahal refinery and disrupted operations at the main unit before resuming operations this week, Al Jashmi said the fire prevented the refinery from taking its oil quota which led to accumulation of oil in tanks and consequently hampered oil production.
The amount of oil in tanks had to be dealt with so as to resume production, this has prompted sale of some 1 million barrels of oil at a lower price in the month of October but in the end we managed to sell our oil at a price close to the average price.
The Ministry of Oil and Gas has announced plans to increase the refining capacity and the absorption of oil tanks capacity as well as a plan to set up a new refinery at Duqm. We are also focusing on constructing new oil tanks to enhance oil storage capacity. The new tanks are expected to absorb an additional 200 million barrels of crude oil, Al Jashmil said.
Some companies have achieved success with oil exploration and the others that have failed to explore oil at their concessions will be replace by other companies, Al Jashmi said pointing out that the exploration agreements include time frame for each concession after which the concession will be re-tendered in case the company failed to meet the conditions.
