Oman's oil exports fell in the first nine months of this year, even though the country succeeded for the first time since 2001 in pumping more crude.
The development reflects rising domestic demand for crude in Oman - following a trend towards higher oil consumption throughout the Middle East.
Oman's oil exports between January and September of this year declined 3.6 per cent to about 590,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 612,000 bpd in the comparable period last year, according to government data released yesterday. In the same period, the sultanate pumped 750,000 bpd of crude, up 6 per cent from 707,000 bpd a year earlier.
Attempting to reverse a production decline that began in 2001, when the country's crude output peaked at 961,000 bpd, Oman has become the Gulf region's leader in the use of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology to prolong the life of its ageing oilfields. Since 2005, it has welcomed foreign partners including the Anglo-Dutch energy group Royal Dutch Shell, the US company Occidental Petroleum, the French oil enterprise Total and Chinese National Petroleum Corporation to provide technical expertise to the efforts.
In February, the state-controlled Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), in which Shell is the largest foreign investor, said it was planning dozens of new EOR projects by 2012 to stem Oman's production decline. At the time, PDO, which accounts for about 80 per cent of the sultanate's total crude output, was expecting its production to decline to 550,000 bpd this year, about 2 per cent less than last year's average of 561,000 bpd.
But although Oman's oil production drive is proving effective, it has been costly and has not had the desired effect of pushing up exports and revenue potential.
Last year, PDO spent more than US$2 billion (Dh7.34bn) on oil development projects. Oman's oil and gas ministry said earlier this year that it planned to spend up to $10bn more by 2012 to boost production from mature fields.
Predicting that oil output would average 790,000 bpd this year, the country's oil minister at the time, Abdullah Macki, in January forecast oil export revenues for this year of $9.4bn. But with Omani crude recently trading below $50 a barrel and exports falling, that revenue projection may be in jeopardy.
So may some of the sultanate's planned EOR projects. Industry experts estimate that an oil price of at least $50 is needed for EOR to be economic, and financing such projects has become much harder due to the global credit crunch.
"The recent financial problems will have an impact because most of our projects are on project finance," Mohammed al Rumhy, the present Omani oil minister, told an oil conference earlier this month.
He nonetheless predicted that Oman's crude production would continue rising to about 800,000 bpd next year from between 750,000 and 760,000 bpd this year.
But Oman may have no choice but to continue investing in costly energy development projects, if only to satisfy its burgeoning domestic demand for oil and gas as it moves to diversify its economy through industrial development.
Other Middle Eastern oil producers face similar dilemmas.
On Sunday, a senior Iranian oil ministry official said Iran's government would ask the country's parliament for up to $5bn to import additional fuel for the 12-month period ending next March. This would be in addition to the $3.3bn budgeted this year for fuel purchases.
Iran is the world's fourth-largest crude exporter, but lacks refining capacity to meet its domestic needs for petrol and other petroleum products. In June last year, it started rationing subsidised petrol in a move to curb soaring consumption.
In its November oil market report, the International Energy Agency predicted that oil demand in the Middle East would increase 6.2 per cent, to 6.93 million bpd this year, and a further 4.3 per cent next year to 7.23 million bpd. That is well above its prediction of 0.1 per cent this year and 0.4 per cent next year for growth in global oil demand.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
Bloomsbury Academic
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
About Tenderd
Started: May 2018
Founder: Arjun Mohan
Based: Dubai
Size: 23 employees
Funding: Raised $5.8m in a seed fund round in December 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Beco Capital, Venturesouq, Paul Graham, Peter Thiel, Paul Buchheit, Justin Mateen, Matt Mickiewicz, SOMA, Dynamo and Global Founders Capital
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
%3Cp%3EThe%20Department%20of%20Culture%20and%20Tourism%20-%20Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Arabic%20Language%20Centre%20will%20mark%20International%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Day%20at%20the%20Bologna%20Children's%20Book%20Fair%20with%20the%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Translation%20Conference.%20Prolific%20Emirati%20author%20Noora%20Al%20Shammari%2C%20who%20has%20written%20eight%20books%20that%20%20feature%20in%20the%20Ministry%20of%20Education's%20curriculum%2C%20will%20appear%20in%20a%20session%20on%20Wednesday%20to%20discuss%20the%20challenges%20women%20face%20in%20getting%20their%20works%20translated.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
Florian Mayer v Marin Cilic (7)