Muscat: The number of jobs that have been specified by Oman’s oil and gas sector (5,000 jobs) has been exceeded in certain jobs, a top official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said. The drive is part of Omani government plans to provide jobs to nationals. On October 3, the Council announced 25,000 jobs would be created for Omanis in both the private and public sectors starting from December. More than 33,000 Omani nationals have been hired in both public and private sectors so far, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
Eng Salem Bin Nasser Al Oufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas said that employment in the oil and gas sector is still going on without being restricted to a certain number.
He pointed out that having more than 9 companies in the Oil and Gas Platform provides a good evidence that the employment process is still going on, in statements to the Oman News Agency (ONA).
Al Oufi affirmed that taking over jobs by Omanis is still going on and did not stop. There is training coupled with employment programs underway. Continuous cooperation is also maintained by the Ministry and Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL) to avail suitable job opportunities for Omanis.
In response to a question about the Sultanate’s commitment to reducing oil production, he noted that the Sultanate is committed to reducing its production by 45,000 barrel per day.
He added that Opec will meet on July 18 to discuss the mechanism and the period at which the one million barrel per day production cut will continue.
Meanwhile, Oman recorded a robust 27.2 per cent growth in total export revenue in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period last year, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Export revenue
The total export revenue for the first quarter of this year hit 3.76 billion riyals (Dh35.9 billion), compared with 2.96 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2017.
The value of oil and gas exports stood at 2.36 billion riyals, equivalent to almost 63 per cent of the total value of commodity exports in the first quarter of 2018, thanks to an increase in the price of Omani crude oil.
Of the total exports from the oil and gas sector, 1.75 billion riyals was from oil exports, while liquefied natural gas exports accounted for 394.3 million riyals in export earnings during the period, revealed the NCSI report.
The Sultanate’s total non-oil exports also rose by 28.8 per cent to 968.6 million riyals from January to March 2018, from 751.8 million riyals during the same period of the previous year.
