MUSCAT: The coronavirus outbreak in China is unlikely to impact Oman’s crude oil exports to Beijing, according to Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas (MOG).
China accounts for the lion’s share of Omani crude exports buying as much as a staggering 83 per cent of total exports of around 28.5 million barrels shipped by the Sultanate in December 2019. “China continuous to allocate plenty of resources to tackle the spread of coronavirus and the demand for Oman crude oil is continue to be high,” Al Aufi said.
Al Aufi was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a forum on energy transition organised by the Omani French Friendship Association (OFA).
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When asked if the oil prices will be impacted due to the virus outbreak, Al Aufi said: “If China is impacted, then this will, of course, have an impact on products, and we see that if there is an impact on products, then this will be an impact on the price of oil a little bit.”
“The prices of oil in 2019 underwent huge changes, so I do not know of the expectations of the oil prices in 2020,” added Al Aufi. “The price is impacted in terms of supply and demand, or because of the geopolitics of a particular region. The average price of oil was higher than the amount predicted by the government in its budget, and it is, therefore, hard to predict the prices,” he added.
