Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Oil & Gas industry can drive growth of knowledge-based economy

1324895
1324895
minus
plus

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the nation’s biggest oil and gas producer, has been playing a key role in bridging the gap between industry and academia, said Dr Alkhattab al Hinai, the Deputy Chairman of the State Council. He was speaking on the theme, ‘Transformation to a knowledge-based economy: Challenges and Opportunities’, as part of the Public Lecture Series held at Muscat University recently.


In his talk, Dr Al Hinai underlined the important role of the Oil & Gas industry, and PDO in particular, in closing the gap between industry and academia in order to address gaps in the national research strategy. For example, PhD programmes offered by local colleges and universities numbering 32 programmes presently, up from just one programme in 2007, are still not enough. The target for 2020 is to have at least one PhD programme in each discipline being taught in colleges and universities, he said


Likewise, there are only 14 per cent of graduates are students of Science and Technology currently, although the goal for 2020 is to achieve at least 40 per cent. When it comes to the number of publications in scientific journals per million population, there are now 156 compared to just 47 in 2007. The target is 728 publications in scientific journals by 2020.


This academic challenge poses a ‘knowledge gap’ between academia and research institutes, on the one hand, and industry and start-ups, on the other. Finding solution to this knowledge gap will transform Oman from an oil and gas dominated economy to a knowledge-based economy.


There must be a transition phase or a high level road map to transform the economy into a knowledge-based one, he said. Now is the right time to act, Dr Al Hinai stressed. The required resources can be garnered through a public-private partnership model, and the one industry that is capable of providing all the resources would be the oil and gas.


“The oil and gas industry in Oman, which is championed by PDO, is sustainable. The oil and gas industry has developed HR and infrastructure capacity, oil and gas technologies are easily transferable to other applications, innovation is a daily business in Oman’s oil and gas companies and oil and gas fields are excellent laboratories. Hence, it is a win-win partnership with academic institutions,” he stated.


PDO, given its maturity and financial standing, is “uniquely positioned” to drive change and economic diversification, said Dr Al Hinai. “It leads the world in the application of EOR (enhance oil recovery) technologies.”


In this regard, he stressed the importance of putting in place processes underpinning collaboration between oil and gas companies and academic and research institutions, together with other stakeholders to develop applied research centres. These research centres can be hosted by Innovation Park Muscat with dedicated researchers and technicians and with the help of local and international academic and industry partners. “Eventually, with all these innovations, inventions and solutions that these applied research centres will do, with the incubation support and spinoffs, will create jobs and revenue for the country.”


These processes, the official further added, need to be supported by a shared vision that will lead to a national innovation strategy. “With the oil and gas industry at the forefront, and PDO championing this, Oman can be a knowledge-based economy that will lead to jobs creation and economic diversification,” Al Hinai concluded.


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon