Oman’s crude oil production tops 30 million barrels
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Oman’s production of crude oil and condensate throughout December 2018 amounted to 30.75 million barrels, with a daily average of 992,192 barrels, the latest monthly report issued by the Ministry of Oil and Gas (MOG) indicated.
The total exported quantities of Oman crude oil during December 2018 reached 2,002 million barrels, with a daily average of 645,890 barrels.
Furthermore, the Asian markets snatched the big pie of Omani crude oil exports in December 2018. Despite the decrease in Chinese imported volumes by 4.41 per cent during the month compared to the November 2018 quantities, China remains on the top list of the largest buyers of Omani exports, bringing the quantities imported to 87.23 per cent during the month. On the other hand, imports from Japan and India witnessed an increase this month to settle at 7.76 per cent and 5 per cent of total exported quantities.
Crude oil prices have witnessed a further decline in the December 2018 futures trading compared with November 2018 for the major crude oil benchmarks around the world. The average price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil at the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has averaged US$49.37 per barrel, falling by $7.44 compared with the previous trading month. The average price for North Sea Brent mix at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London ended at $57.88 per barrel, declining by $8.07 compared with November 2018.
Likewise, the average price for Oman Crude Oil Future Contracts at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) witnessed a drop by 13.5 per cent compared with the previous month. The official selling price (OSP) for Oman Crude Oil during December 2018, for the delivery month of February 2019, settled at $57.33, lower by $8.95, only compared with November trading prices. The trading price ranged between $50.01 per barrel and $61.73 per barrel.
There were several factors that deepened the downtrend of the oil prices through December 2018 and badly affected the trading settlements.
To start with, the market has negatively overreacted after the US President Donald Trump appealed to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) not to reduce production.
In addition, the deterioration of the global stock markets and the weakening of the dollar exchange rate, which has put pressure on the dollar-denominated oil prices, have contributed in global crude prices waning as well.