Oman creates new oil and gas company

Oman has created a new upstream oil and gas company, named Energy Development Oman (EDO), which will take a stake in the country's more established energy company Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and develop its own projects, according to the government's gazette published Dec. 6.

EDO will be entitled to raise financing independently of the sultanate's Ministry of Energy & Minerals which can be secured against its projects, according to the report.

A CEO, CFO and other senior executives have yet to be appointed. EDO's primary activities will be related to projects in PDO's prolific Block 6, which is Oman's largest field and produces approximately 650,000 b/d. In recent years, Oman's energy ministry has tendered smaller licenses that fall within Block 6 as PDO is obligated to sell them under statutory license rules, the oil ministry has previously said.

PDO, which produces the bulk of Oman's crude, is 60% owned by the Omani government. Royal Dutch Shell holds 34%, Total 4% and Partex 2%. The company now has 192 producing oil fields, 52 gas fields, 29 production stations and around 9,000 active wells.

Platts previously reported in March on Oman's plans to monetize certain hydrocarbon assets as the pandemic first took hold. They include potential asset stake sales and debt issuance. Plans to sell a 20-25% stake of state-owned OQ have been pushed back, Oman's Minister of Energy Mohammed Al-Rumhy said in June.

Hydrocarbons account for about 75% of the government's revenue, which has been hit by the pandemic and oil price crash. Oman's budget deficit is projected to reach 17% of gross domestic product this year after a shortfall of 7% in 2019, according to recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund.

Source: SP Global

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