Oman's oil strategy is now one of 'managed decline'
Muscat faces up to oil twilight
The Omani government’s focus is reluctantly shifting to managing output decline
State-controlled Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), producer of some two-thirds of Oman’s oil, announced In late May the near-completion of its flagship Yibal Khuff enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project. The tone was celebratory but could equally have been valedictory. The international energy landscape and the government’s fiscal position have shifted dramatically in the seven years since the scheme’s launch. It is hard to envisage either the parastatal or its foreign counterparts in the country’s upstream ever again embarking on such a costly, emissions-heavy venture for such a small output payoff. The sultanate’s energy minister, Mohammed al-Rumhy, openly conceded in an interview last month
Also in this section
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
