Oman’s top 200 officials and executives tasked with leading the Sultanate’s energy industry met here yesterday to discuss challenges and opportunities in implementing the country’s energy transition to enable more sustainable economic and social growth. Several elements were considered, including legacy and resource value chains for conventional fuels, to security and reliability of supply and sustainability for different stakeholder groups.
The group of industry experts and government policy makers agreed that tackling the problem requires simple and aligned governance structures, a balanced mix of energy sources as well as clear cost allocation criteria.
“It involves the right governance, local skills development and supply chains, enabling infrastructure and a progressive mindset aimed at achieving sustainable growth and prosperity. The ability to engage on these issues and ensure key building blocks are in place is increasingly critical for all stakeholders involved in the country’s energy industry,” said Raoul Restucci, Managing Director, Petroleum Development Oman.
Oman has one of the world’s highest solar densities and has already made some significant steps towards its Energy Transition strategy in its goal to generate 10 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2025. The move towards adopting energy transition strategies across the Gulf region is propelled by an urgency triggered by rapid consumption, which has grown by eight per cent annually since 1972, compared to two per cent for the world.
The 6th edition of the Oman Energy Forum took place in partnership with the Ministry of Oil & Gas, as part of an on-going commitment by government, industry and academia stakeholders to review, refresh and, where broadly and strategically agreed, implement key recommendations put forward in the Oman Energy Master Plan 2040 (2015), including a transition to harvest a range of new renewable energy sources.
The focus of the 2018 Oman Energy Forum was to review and adopt comprehensive actions for the oil and gas industry to help accelerate Oman’s energy transition. The strategy document harvested from the forum will be compiled into a whitepaper and presented to Oman’s Minister of Oil & Gas, Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy for consideration to further accelerate and/or enable the transition.
The companies supporting the Forum included Petroleum Development Oman, Shell Development Oman, Oman Trading International, Occidental Oman, GlassPoint, PETRONAS and
Oman LNG.
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