In Oil & Companies News 09/06/2015
Oman’s natural gas production and imports rose 5.5 per cent to 12,402 million cubic metres (MNCM) for the first four months of this year, from 11,750 MNCM for the same period last year.
Of this, while non-associated gas showed a growth of 7.6 per cent to 10,216MNCM, associated gas production declined 3.1 per cent to 2,185MNCM, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Industrial projects
A sizeable portion of the natural gas in Oman is used by various mega industrial projects, which stood at 7,267MNCM for the first four months of 2015, against 6,946MNCM for the same period last year. Natural gas is also used in oilfields either as fuel or for re-injection. For instance, in the first four months, as much as 2,613 MNCM of natural gas was used in oil fields, against 2,406 MNCM units consumed for the same period in 2014.
Other major consumers of natural gas in the country include power producers, small-scale industries and liquefied natural gas plants. Natural gas used by power and desalination plants stood 3.9 per cent higher at 2,303 MNCM for the first four months of this year. The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), estimates gas consumption in the electricity and water desalination sector to rise substantially in the next five years, mainly due to higher production to support growing demand for power and water.
While the national demand for gas will rise sharply over the coming five years, the rate of increase is by no means evenly distributed, with requirements set to spike in some regions.
In fact, the Ministry of Oil and Gas is responsible for supplying gas to various consumers and the obligations are set out in within the agreements.
The Sultanate’s natural gas production this year is projected at 120 million cubic metres per day, which is 15 million cubic metres higher than that of last year. Oman produced and imported 37,687 million cubic metres of natural gas last year (equivalent to 105 million cubic metres per day).
