Oman, an interesting case in oil in the Middle East

[jose chalhoub + 388]

Recently, I have been following with some degrees of intensity and interest the case of Oman, how this tiny sultanate has been expanding its presence in the regional geopolitical dynamics in the Persian Gulf, the Middle East in general, becoming a voice of weight in many delicate regional issues some times being a stealth mediator and wanting to be some sort of an independent actor in the region, but some times being accused of having ties or backing from Iran. Its interesting because also its been ramping up its oil production rounding the 1000000 barrels of oil in recent months, maybe less or maybe a little more, but certainly keeping it steady, with the help of international companies especially from China, the U.S., Iran, and also having a voice of balance in the OPEC, some times even trying to defy the positions of Saudi Arabia, the main producer of oil of the bloc and the region. Certainly Oman will have much of a say in the regional oil geopolitics, but not without risks for its own survival having the succesion to the throne of Sultan Qaboos allegedly ill, and how the sultanate will play the delicate balance of power and equilibrium in the power play between Saudi Arabia and Iran and how the United States and China will act towards this situation. Oman to award many blocks to IOC's

[TomTom + 183]

Interesting article Jose - Oman seems to be more realistic on oil prices. Its oil minister al-Rumhi doesn't believe the $100 oil story yet and seems to think that $75 oil is as good as it gets this year.

[jose chalhoub + 388]

40 minutes ago, TomTom said:

Interesting article Jose - Oman seems to be more realistic on oil prices. Its oil minister al-Rumhi doesn't believe the $100 oil story yet and seems to think that $75 oil is as good as it gets this year.

yup sir. oman in my view is a very telling case of whats coming for the geopolitical dynamics in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, this is what i always believed. Actually you all can see that current mechanisms such as the GCC are not working and im also wondering if the OAPEC is currently a functioning mechanism in the oil markets.. 

[Blockchainbull + 26]

The GCC stopped working when they all ganged up on Qatar. From there, it's all downhill. Everyone now sees what the Saudi 'perks' will cost them. 

[jose chalhoub + 388]

29 minutes ago, Blockchainbull said:

The GCC stopped working when they all ganged up on Qatar. From there, it's all downhill. Everyone now sees what the Saudi 'perks' will cost them. 

i think you are right on that issue sir. And also i consider that there is an aggresive race between the Gulf monarchies to see which is to reach modernity and reforms soon, for example taking into consideration the cases of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain, in trying to cope with rising demands for reforms and definitely this is creating grievances in the GCC bloc. Oman for its part is doing things quite smarter and not with so much fanfare.. 

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

1 hour ago, jose chalhoub said:

Oman for its part is doing things quite smarter and not with so much fanfare.. 

Agreed.  I went to Oman a few years ago about an Oil & Gas project we were involved in.  I was impressed by the level headedness of the O&G management and engineers in Oman (this project was for PDO [ Petroleum Development Oman ] about the main pipeline in the country).

Unlike Qatar, which over the years has stirred up a bit of regional politics, Oman struck me as more low key and pragmatic.

[jose chalhoub + 388]

On 5/2/2018 at 5:21 PM, TomTom said:

Interesting article Jose - Oman seems to be more realistic on oil prices. Its oil minister al-Rumhi doesn't believe the $100 oil story yet and seems to think that $75 oil is as good as it gets this year.

thanks sir. And i think this balance is what OPEC needs now.. 

[lahcene mebarek + 1]

On 2/5/2018 at 5:09 PM, jose chalhoub said:

Recently, I have been following with some degrees of intensity and interest the case of Oman, how this tiny sultanate has been expanding its presence in the regional geopolitical dynamics in the Persian Gulf, the Middle East in general, becoming a voice of weight in many delicate regional issues some times being a stealth mediator and wanting to be some sort of an independent actor in the region, but some times being accused of having ties or backing from Iran. Its interesting because also its been ramping up its oil production rounding the 1000000 barrels of oil in recent months, maybe less or maybe a little more, but certainly keeping it steady, with the help of international companies especially from China, the U.S., Iran, and also having a voice of balance in the OPEC, some times even trying to defy the positions of Saudi Arabia, the main producer of oil of the bloc and the region. Certainly Oman will have much of a say in the regional oil geopolitics, but not without risks for its own survival having the succesion to the throne of Sultan Qaboos allegedly ill, and how the sultanate will play the delicate balance of power and equilibrium in the power play between Saudi Arabia and Iran and how the United States and China will act towards this situation. Oman to award many blocks to IOC's

they are not playing, they just do the right it s why they live in peace and no one hear about them in medias

[jose chalhoub + 388]

15 hours ago, lahcene mebarek said:

they are not playing, they just do the right it s why they live in peace and no one hear about them in medias

agree with you. Also I have been told that Oman is a country where each religious group lives in pacific coexistence with the other, but that the issue of sucession to the throne will be a delicate situation to deal with in the middle or long term, as players such as China, Iran, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia along with India are struggling to gain influence over the tiny sultanate. But talking about the case of Oman i think this might show in the future that a new geopolitical order is emerging in the GCC and the Gulf that can derive in the shifting of power from the current leaders such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the UAE, Qatar and Oman as the new power brokers in the region.