Muscat, The Sultanate’s production of crude oil and
condensates throughout December 2018 amounted to (30,757,952)
barrels, with a daily average of (992,192) barrels, according to the
monthly report issued by the Ministry of Oil and Gas (MOG).
The total exported quantities of the Omani crude oil during December
2018 reached (20,022,587) barrels, with a daily average of (645,890)
barrels.
Furthermore, the Asian markets received the bulk of the Omani
crude oil exports during December 2018. Despite the decrease in the
Chinese imported volumes by 4.41% during the month compared to
November 2018 quantities, China remains on the top list of the largest
buyers of Omani exports, bringing the imported quantities to 87.23%
during the month.
On the other hand, imports from Japan and India witnessed an
increase in this month to settle at 5% and 7.76% respectively of the
total exported quantities.
The crude oil prices witnessed a decline during December’s 2018
futures trading (February 2019 Delivery) compared with November
2018 for the major crude oil benchmarks around the world.
The average price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil at the New
York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) reached (USD49.37) a barrel, a
decline by (USD7.44) compared with November 2018 trading.
The average price for North Sea Brent mix at the Intercontinental
Exchange (ICE) in London stood at (USD57.88) per barrel, a decrease
by (USD8.07) compared with November 2018.
Likewise, the average price for Oman Crude Oil Future Contracts at
the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) witnessed a price decline by
13.5 percent compared with previous month. The official selling price
for Oman Crude Oil during December 2018, for the delivery month of
February 2019, settled at (USD57.33), a decline by (USD8.95)
compared with the delivery month of January 2019 prices. The trading
price ranged between (USD50.01) per barrel and (USD61.73) per
barrel.
The crude oil prices’ downtrend through December 2018 attributed
to several factors that negatively affected the trading settlements, most
notably the market reaction after US President Donald Trump
demanded the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) in a tweet not to reduce production, which had a negative
impact on the movement of prices and the situation experienced by the
global stock markets, in addition to the the severe deterioration and the
accompanying increase in the value of exchange rate of the US dollar.
This has put a pressure on dollar-denominated oil prices and market
fears that the OPEC and its external producers’ cut-off agreements at
the beginning of this year for six months will not be enough to reduce
supply.
Reports pointed out that the increase of crude oil production and the
commercial stocks in the United States led to falling prices.
Source: Oman News Agency