Oil & Gas industry well-placed to help accelerate energy transition

KEY PLATFORM: Oman’s Top-200 Oil & Gas stakeholders to convene at the 6th Gulf Intelligence Oman Energy Forum on November 27 to craft an Energy Transition Implementation Strategy

The oil and gas industry of Oman, the largest nonopec crude producer in the Middle East, is well placed to accelerate the country’s transition to a more diversified economy utilising all forms of future energies, such as solar and wind, because of its experience with integrating and leveraging the local in-country supply chain.

Oman’s top-200 officials and executives tasked with leading the Sultanate’s energy industry will meet on November 27 to discuss challenges and opportunities in implementing the energy transition to enable more sustainable economic and social growth.

Several elements must be considered, including legacy and resource value chains for conventional fuels, to security and reliability of supply and sustainability for different stakeholder groups. This requires simple and aligned governance structures, a balanced mix of energy sources as well as clear cost allocation criteria.

“Oman has a wonderful opportunity to develop its renewable energy offering, thanks to its people, climate and burgeoning expertise. However, being successful in the country’s Energy Transition means creating the right ecosystem,” said Raoul Restucci, Managing Director, Petroleum Development Oman.

“It involves the right governance, local skills development and supply chains, enabling infrastructure and a progressive mindset aimed at achieving sustainable growth and prosperity. The ability to engage on these issues and ensure key building blocks are in place is increasingly critical for all stakeholders involved in the country’s energy industry.”

Oman has one of the world’s highest solar densities and has already made some significant steps towards its Energy Transition strategy in its goal to generate 10 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2025. The move towards adopting energy transition strategies across the Gulf region is propelled by an urgency triggered by rapid consumption, which has grown by eight per cent annually since 1972, compared to two per cent for the world. Together, four of the six GCC countries (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) have less than one per cent of the world’s population, but account for more than five per cent of global oil consumption.

PDO, Shell, OOC, OXY and all their peers in the oil and gas have been committed for decades to an in-country value policy that maximises the procurement of local goods and services, as well as improving the capacity and capability of Omani people and companies in order to secure sustainable commercial benefits for the Sultanate.

The 6th edition of the Oman Energy Forum will take place next week, in partnership with the Ministry of Oil & Gas, as part of an on-going commitment by government, industry and academia stakeholders to review, refresh and, where broadly and strategically agreed, implement key recommendations put forward in the Oman Energy Master Plan 2040 (2015), including a Transition to harvest a range of new renewable energy sources.