10.4pc rise in oil and condensate output

Business Reporter - Muscat, May 6 - Oil and condensate production in the Sultanate recorded a 10.6 per cent increase in March 2019 compared to the previous month. Also, it recorded a slight increase (0.4 per cent) at the end of March 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). The increase is attributed to a 10.2 per cent uptick in crude output which climbed to 26.5 million barrels for March 2019, compared to 24.0 million barrels in the previous month. Condensate production was up by 13.4 per cent. Crude output was up 0.4 per cent as of March end-2019 versus corresponding figures for the previous year. Natural gas production (local production and imports) rose 10.5 per cent in March 2019 compared to the previous month. The growth was attributed to the increase in the utilisation of gas in EOR operations (15 per cent increase), industrial areas (11.2 per cent), and power generation (11 per cent. Consumption by heavy industries also grew 8.8 per cent during the month. In comparison with figures for the previous year, gas production was lower by 0.4 per cent.