‘If oil prices remain low it will affect business in Oman’

Muscat: Ministry of Oil and Gas decision to take bold steps in the coming months, if oil prices remain low, will have a significant impact on some of the country’s businesses,said some exhibitors on Monday at the Oil and Gas West Asia (OGWA) Exhibition at the Oman International Exhibition Centre.
On Monday, Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, confirmed that the government might take drastic steps in April if oil prices remains low.
According to Dmitry Maximov, Deputy CEO and Commercial Director of TMK Gulf International Pipe Industry LLC, such government decisions will affect their business.
“We are directly involved in the oil and gas industry. If the government plans to delay any projects, that will negatively affect us,” Maximov told Times of Oman.
“I hope the government plans to reduce oil production, which will help to boost prices and everything will return to normal,” he added.
Also, Joseph Antony from Techs International agreed that the government’s decision will strongly impact their market.
“We are the suppliers of oil equipment to companies like PDO. If the government plans to reduce or delay projects,it will affect our business badly,” Antony said.
“So far, we have not had any issues in the market. I hope this will continue,” he added.
According to Katie Struble of GlassPoint, oil producers are looking to reduce their operating costs, as the production of crude using conventional methods becomes more costly, and solar energy becomes a suitable methodof producing oil at lower costs.
GlassPoint Solar is a private company that designs and manufactures solar steam generators that use solar thermal technology to generate steam to power enhanced oil recovery (EOR) systems.
“For us, the current dip in oil prices is a positive thing, because oil producers are looking to reduce their operating costs, and solar can help,” Struble said.
“More than 60 per cent of a heavy oil field’s operating costs arededicated for its fuel projects. If you replace this with solar energy, you can reduce a lot of production costs,” she added.
The exhibition will end on Wednesday at the Oman Exhibition Centre,as will the SPE EOR Conference at the Golden Tulip Hotel Seeb.
Exhibitors also expressed their concerns, as organisers were unable to attract large numbers of visitors to attend the exhibition.
“It’s location and facilities are perfect, but they failed to attract more people,” an exhibitor commented.