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PDO sets 2024 crude target of 700,000 bpd

oman OMANI state-controlled oil firm PDO said last third since the start of the year, this plan could
week it aims to increase its crude production to change.
700,000 bpd by 2024, up from its previous target The Omani state owns 60% of PDO, shell
of 670,000 bpd by 2023. holds 34%, total has 4% and Portugal’s Partex
The company has set the new target after its owns the remaining 2%. Oil and gas sales form
crude output rose for the second consecutive the bulk of Oman’s income and accounted for
year in 2019 to reach its highest level since 2005, more than 70% of government revenue in 2019.
buoyed by the completion of its largest enhanced
oil recovery (EOR) project at Rabab Harweel. Downstream
PDO’s crude production was 616,000 bpd Meanwhile OQ, the result of a result merger
last year, up by 6,000 bpd from 2018. The Rabab between OOC and ORPIC, has begun test runs
Harweel project, which was completed in 2018 at its new 880,000 tonne per year (tpy) polyeth-
two months ahead of schedule and around $1bn ylene (PE) plant in the port of sohar.
under budget, will deliver 76,000 bpd of crude The PE unit, Oman’s first, is part of the Liwa
once it reaches plateau. Plastics Industries Complex, which also includes
PDO’s condensate output also hit a mul- a 300,000 tpy polypropylene (PP) unit. Italy’s
ti-year high in 2019, rising by 44% year on year Maire tecnimont said in late May that the unit
to 94,000 bpd. But gas production edged down to had achieved a safe start-up and yielded its
62.2mn cubic metres (2.19bn cubic feet) per day first polymer powder using imported ethylene
from 64.8 mcm per day in 2018. Overall crude, feedstock.
gas and condensate production was 1.21mn bar- OQ, which comprises state oil company
rels per day of oil equivalent last year, compared OOC and seven other Omani firms, also started
with 1.2mn boepd in 2018. test runs at a 1mn tpy natural gas liquids (NGLs)
PDO is comfortably Oman’s biggest hydro- extraction plant in Fahud, 300 km inland from
carbons producer. It accounted for 73% of sohar, in late April. Once this facility is up and
Oman’s total liquids output in 2019, up from 69% running it will deliver domestic ethylene via a
in 2018. The company also added 35mn barrels pipeline to the PE plant.
of crude and 1.1 trillion cubic feet of gas to its Liwa Plastics is the crown jewel in OQ’s
reserves through exploration activities last year, so-called series of “transformational projects,”
while keeping exploration costs at approximately aimed at extracting more value from Oman’s oil
$1 per barrel. and gas by expanding its downstream industry.
The firm expects another key EOR project to The main complex adjoins the suhar oil refinery.
contribute to its 2024 crude output target. The OQ has not offered guidance yet on the time-
Yibal Khuff venture is set to come on stream in frame for Liwa Plastics’ commissioning and
February 2021, although it was initially sched- commercial launch. The project’s estimated cost
uled to be finished in 2019. Yibal Khuff will is $6.7bn.
deliver 5 mcm per day of gas and around 10,000 PE’s applications include films, tubes, plastic
bpd of crude. parts and laminates in numerous markets, such
PDO has said previously that it expects 25% as the packaging, automotive, electrical, elec-
of its production to derive from EOR projects by tronics, appliances, healthcare products and toy
2025, but with oil prices down by more than a industries.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 23 10•May•2020