Muscat – Oman’s daily average production of crude oil and condensates exceeded 1mn barrels per day (bpd) mark in December 2021, up by 4 per cent in comparison to daily average output recorded for the full year 2021.

Oil output during December increased to 1.01mn bpd compared with 998,300 bpd in the previous month and 971,200 bpd during the full year 2021, the data released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) showed.

The sultanate’s total oil production in 2021 increased 1.9 per cent to 354.5mn barrels compared to 347.9mn barrels in 2020.

Of the total production, crude production slightly decreased by 1.6 per cent to 274.4mn barrels in 2021, while condensates output rose by 15.9 per cent to 80.1mn barrels during last year against 69.1mn barrels in 2020.

The average price at which Oman sold its crude during 2021 surged by nearly 40 per cent to US$64.3 per barrel against US$46 per barrel recorded in the previous year. The highest monthly average price of Oman crude was recorded in December at US$81.6 per barrel, the data showed.

With global oil prices continuing to rise, Oman crude prices last week rose to their highest level in more than seven years. Oman crude price on Monday rose by two per cent to US$86.94 per barrel (for March delivery) at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange.

Exports increase

Oman’s December oil exports grew by more than 20 per cent to 28.1mn barrels compared with 23.3mn barrels recorded in November 2021.

Total oil exports for the full year 2021 inched up 0.7 per cent to 288.9mn barrels in comparison with 287mn barrels in the previous year, the NCSI data showed.

Exports to China, the biggest buyer of Oman’s crude, accounted for nearly 84 per cent of the sultanate’s total oil exports during 2021. However, total exports to China last year remained 2.4 per cent lower at 242.2mn barrels compared to 248.1mn barrels in 2020.

On the other hand, exports to India grew by 62.5 per cent to 28.9mn barrels in 2021 from 17.8mn barrels in 2020. Oil exports to South Korea and Japan also increased by 31 per cent and 6.7 per cent to 6.54mn barrels and 4.18mn barrels in 2021, respectively.