Oman’s oil output reaches 30.2mn barrels in August

Oman’s total production of crude oil and condensate reached 30.2mn barrels in August 2018 with a daily average output of 974,500 barrels, according to the monthly report released by the Ministry of Oil and Gas.

Total exports of Omani crude reached 25.2mn barrels during August, accounting for more than 83 per cent of the production, Oman News Agency reported.

Oil exports to China accounted for 80.6 per cent of total exports in August, a decrease of 2.85 per cent from the previous month. However, China continued to remain the biggest buyer for Oman crude. Exports to Japan rose 3.4 per cent in August on monthly basis.

The report said that oil prices witnessed a fallback during August compared with July prices for the major crude benchmarks around the world. With the same trend, the average price for Oman crude oil future contracts at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) witnessed a drop by 0.7 per cent in August compared with the previous month.

The average selling price for Oman crude during August (for October delivery) settled at US$72.64 per barrel, while trading price ranged between US$70 and US$76.29 per barrel.

Oman crude price (November delivery) slightly increased to US$76.96 per barrel on Monday at DME.

The ministry’s report said that the downtrend in oil prices through August was attributed to several factors that negatively affected the trading settlements. It said the increase in US oil inventories and an escalating trade dispute between US and China have squeezed the oil markets.

‘These trade tensions threaten the volume of China’s import of US crude oil and therefore slowing the Chinese demand. The negative trend in oil prices was also caused by the rise of dollar exchange rate which led to the weakening of other commodities priced in the US dollar, such as crude oil,’ the Ministry of Oil and Gas said in the report.