Oman’s Daily Oil Output Tops 1 Million Barrels for First Time

Oman, the biggest oil producer in the Middle East outside OPEC, said its crude and condensate production in July exceeded 1 million barrels a day for the first time.

“In July 2015 the Sultanate broke a new record,” the Oil and Gas Ministry said in a monthly report published on its website. Production rose 0.5 percent from June because of efficiency achieved through maintenance work.

 Daily crude output was 894,000 barrels and condensate -- a light oil extracted from gas -- accounted for 107,000 barrels, it said. Exports dropped 13% from a month earlier to 797,000 barrels a day as local refiner Orpic increased its intake of crude, according to the report.

All shipments were to Asia, with China and Japan keeping first and second place among Oman’s customers, accounting for about 69 percent and 15 percent of sales respectively. The rest was sold to Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.

 Oman started reversing an oil output decline in 2008 by making new discoveries and using technology to improve recovery of oil from aging fields, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Production rose from 710,000 barrels a day in 2007 to 960,000 barrels a day in 2014, according to the International Energy Agency.

bloomberg.com