MUSCAT: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) confirmed today (3 April, 2017) that it set a new combined oil, gas and condensate production record of 1.293 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2016. The achievement was secured whilst reducing capital and operating expenditure and thanks to continuous improvement in drilling, well and reservoir management and project delivery. To boost near-term cashflow and reduce reliance on Government funding, PDO cut planned 2017 expenditure by almost US$1.5 billion through project optimisation and re-phasing, closer collaboration with contractors and a further comprehensive review and challenge of costs across the organisation. The Company pledged to continue to drive cost reduction opportunities to improve the country’s budgetary position, including through its Lean business efficiency programme, which has to date generated more than US$400 million in terms of extra revenue, cost reduction or avoidance.
At the same time, it increased its investment in its In-Country Value (ICV) programme to boost Omani business and generate almost 7,800 employment opportunities for young jobseekers, both in the oil and gas industry and other sectors of the economy, contributing to a total of almost 30,000 since 2011. The average PDO daily oil production for 2016 was 600,197 bpd, the highest since 2005 and more than 15,000 bpd above the original planned target. Annual condensate production was 81.325 bpd against a yearly target of 76,800 bpd, helped by a strong performance from wells at Kauther, Rabab and Khouloud. Average Government gas production during the year was 80.24 million m3/d against 81.07 million m3/d in 2015. Commenting on the 2016 performance, PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said: “I am pleased to announce that in another year dominated by the low global oil price, PDO exceeded performance expectations, delivering a significant improvement across a broad range of functional and asset targets. “Our philosophy and strategy have been simple and consistent: working to ‘stay the course’ while addressing value creation, cost control and continuous improvement in every facet of our business. This approach has helped to steer us through the difficulties caused by the low oil price environment and to build solid foundations for the future.
