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