Oman signs energy concession agreement with Lebanon

Oman’s energy ministry has signed an oil and gas concession agreement with Lebanon’s CC Energy Development (CCED) for natural resource exploration in two concession areas in the sultanate’s Dhofar province.

Yesterday the Oman News Agency quoted the country’s Minister of Energy and Minerals, Salem Al Awfi, as saying the agreement reflects Muscat’s commitment to expand exploration and prospecting for oil and gas in Oman.

“By entering into this agreement, we strive to fortify current partnerships and build new ones in this sector, maximize the benefits from oil and gas resources, and employ cutting-edge sustainable technologies in exploration and prospecting operations,” he said.

#Oman has signed a concession agreement with #Lebanon's CC Energy Development for the exploration of #Oil and #Gas in areas No. 38 and 74 in the Gulf country's #Dhofar Governorate.#Forbes

For more details: 🔗 https://t.co/1Fb5fBXTQw pic.twitter.com/Y2YjMvcQFE

— Forbes Middle East (@Forbes_MENA_) January 7, 2024

Al Awfi signed the concession agreement with CCED President and Director Marwan Salloum, who said: “We are proud of our partnership extending for more than 15 years with the Ministry, which has resulted in our investments in Blocks 3 and 4. We are pleased to consolidate this cooperation and sign two agreements for concession areas 38 and 74. We look forward to enhancing our investments in Sultanate of Oman in the coming years.”

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“We are optimistic about oil and gas exploration work in the two regions, and we will employ all our knowledge, experience, and technology, as we hope to discover commercial quantities, which will raise the ceiling of production in the Sultanate of Oman,” he added.

Oman is the largest non-OPEC crude oil producer in the region and has also emerged as the second-largest natural gas exporter in the Arab world.

In November, Oman’s liquefied natural gas company, Oman LGN, signed a nine-year sale and purchase agreement with BP. Last month, the sultanate’s sovereign credit rating was upgraded for the second consecutive time in 2023 by global ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service, who also changed the country’s outlook from “positive” to “stable”, amid improvements in the Gulf state’s economic performance, in particular on the lowered debt burden and the exploitation of alternative revenues to support its oil income.