Muscat – OQ Group, Oman’s global integrated energy group, marked its 40th anniversary on Monday. The group was founded on November 14 back in 1982 when the late His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said inaugurated Oman Oil Refinery Company (ORPIC) at Mina Al Fahl to serve as the first refinery in Oman.

This ushered in the journey of the sultanate towards maximising the added value of its natural wealth of oil and gas by refining oil derivatives and establishing a giant industry in the petrochemical sector. This sector has become one of the most important downstream industries that made its way to reach its current state of development and growth spanned over four decades, with many large investment projects in various governorates.

OQ Group undertakes exploration and production services as part of its investments. Total production of oil from its operating assets and investment partnerships reached 219,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day during the first half of 2022. This represents 12.6 per cent of Oman’s total oil production, according to a press statement.

Block 60 is considered one of the most significant concession areas owned by the group which include Bisat field where OQ managed to increase the production from 14,000 to 57,000 barrels of oil equivalent in three years. The group has partnerships with many international companies for managing and operating many concession areas, both locally and internationally.

OQ Group has assets of about US$31.631bn, making it one of the largest energy companies in the sultanate. The operations and activities of OQ cover the entire value chain; starting from exploration and production, operations of refineries and petrochemicals sector, to the added value of oil and gas products, as well as trading and marketing.

Over the past 40 years, OQ Group has supported and promoted the government’s plans for economic diversification by providing production inputs to many industries related to oil, gas and petrochemical derivatives, as well as producing fuel derivatives in Oman through its refineries.

Furthermore, the group has attracted foreign investments and entered into partnerships with international companies inside the sultanate and abroad. OQ’s exports to various countries around the world have enhanced the brand of Omani industries and strengthened national capabilities in engineering.

Additionally, OQ has achieved significant successes in expanding into global markets. The group operates in 17 countries across five continents and sells its products to more than 3,000 clients in over 80 countries.

This international expansion has enabled it to be one of the most prominent players in the petrochemical industries markets and to contribute to the access of Omani products to various countries of the world.

OQ Group owns many development projects that mark a milestone in upstream industries inside Oman. This enhanced the group’s contribution to developing the industrial sector and promoted the petrochemical industries. The Liwa Plastics Industries Complex is one of the largest investments in Oman.

‘Energy transition enabler’

OQ group with strong asset base is well positioned to maximise value from Oman’s energy sources and power transition towards a sustainable future, with OQ Alternative Energy playing an integral role for OQ as an ‘Energy Transition Enabler’.

At the centre of OQ Alternate Energy’s efforts is decarbonisation of OQ’s assets and securing future growth, and to achieve that number of initiatives have been progressed in the areas of energy excellence, clean energy and low carbon molecules.

Further for low carbon molecules production OQ has made great strides by signing joint development agreements and memoranda of understanding to develop four mega green hydrogen projects for the production of green ammonia with prominent international partners in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm and Dhofar. These mega projects include Hyport Duqm Project, Green Energy Oman Project (GEO), Hydrogen Oman Project (H2Oman), and Salalah 2 Project.