The Sultanate of Oman recorded an increase in the production of standard grade petrol (M-91) by Omani refineries at the end of June 2019 by 5%, with the output surging to 7.52 million barrels compared to 7.20 million barrels produced in 2018.
The surge in production of standard grade petrol over super grade petrol was supported by a significant growth in demand. The output of super grade petrol (M-95) reached 6.58 million barrels till the end of June 2019, according to data released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Gas oil (diesel) output fell by 8% to 13.52 million barrels, while aviation fuel production jumped by 10% to 7.44 million barrels at the end of June 2019 over the same period of 2018. Production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rose by 6% to 3.79 million barrels during the period under review. Of the total production of M-91 grade petrol (which is the cheapest petrol available in the market), 5.27 million barrels were sold in the domestic market. However, domestic sales of M-95 grade petrol rose by 31% to reach 6.12 million barrels, while sales of gas oil (diesel) within the country was at 7.66 million barrels during the six-month period of 2019. Domestic sales of aviation fuel oil and LPG rose by 3% and 2% to reach 2.41 million barrels and 1.30 million barrels in June 2019, respectively.As far as petrochemicals are concerned, production of polypropylene by Orpic in June 2019 was 144,000 tons, while output of paraxylene and benzene was 329,000 tons and 93,000 tons, respectively.
Further, Omani refineries exported 95,000 tons of benzene in the first six months of 2019, while exports of paraxylene and polypropylene stood at 323,000 tons and 127,000 tons, respectively.