Oman is accelerating a strategy to raise hydrocarbon recovery while cutting the emissions intensity of its oil and gas sector, placing carbon capture, renewable power for oilfields, flaring reduction and water-treatment technology at the centre of its energy policy.The approach reflects Muscat’s attempt to protect a core source of state revenue while aligning production with the Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050. The updated pathway targets a 33 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 against a 2024 baseline, with 7 per cent treated as a mandatory commitment and 26 per cent dependent on financing, technology transfer and capacity-building support.
The oil and gas sector carries a sharper burden under the plan. Sectoral emissions are targeted to fall by as much as 48 per cent by 2035, including a 10 per cent unconditional reduction and a further 38 per cent tied to external support and enabling conditions. That scale of reduction is significant for an economy where hydrocarbons remain central to fiscal stability, export earnings and industrial development.
Dr Saleh bin Ali Al Anbouri, Director General of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, has said the ministry is pushing operators to adopt advanced technologies that can improve recovery from existing reservoirs while lowering the environmental footprint of production. The message is directed at a sector that must maintain output from mature and technically complex fields without locking in higher emissions.
A key test is the carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery pilot at Petroleum Development Oman’s Dhulaima field. The project uses injected CO2 to mobilise oil trapped in reservoir rock, while also building technical experience in carbon capture, utilisation and storage. The pilot is being watched as a potential bridge between Oman’s production requirements and its longer-term carbon management ambitions.
Production remains robust. Average daily output of crude oil and condensates reached about one million barrels per day in 2025, with total annual output at 365.8 million barrels. Exploration activity also continued, with 64 exploration and appraisal wells drilled, including 47 for oil and 17 for gas. Reserves stood at about 4.7 billion barrels of oil and condensates and 22.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Gas is increasingly important to Oman’s energy security and industrial growth. Daily gas production exceeded 151 million cubic metres, while LNG exports surpassed 11 million metric tonnes. The sector also maintained an Omanisation rate of about 92 per cent, underlining the government’s effort to link energy investment with local employment, skills development and supply-chain participation.
Petroleum Development Oman, the country’s dominant upstream operator, remains central to the transition. Its 2024 oil output averaged 679,922 barrels per day, the highest level in two decades, while total hydrocarbon output, including condensates and non-associated gas, averaged 1.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company has been investing in technology, reservoir management and renewable energy to sustain production from mature assets.
Renewable power is being moved directly into oilfield operations. Two wind projects in Block 6, with a combined capacity of 200MW, are under development and are expected to cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 740,000 tonnes annually once operational. A separate 100MW solar photovoltaic project in Block 6 is expected to reduce emissions by more than 220,000 tonnes a year.
The Amin Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant, operating since 2020 with 100MW capacity, has already cut emissions by more than 1.1 million tonnes. Miraah, the solar steam project used for enhanced oil recovery, continues to reduce the need for gas-fired steam generation. PDO has raised its target to source 30 per cent of its operational energy needs from renewables by the end of 2026.
Water management is another part of the decarbonisation drive. The Nimr Wetland Project treats up to 175,000 cubic metres of produced water per day using reed-bed technology and cuts emissions by an estimated 113,000 tonnes annually. The Rima Water Treatment Plant, operating since 2022, handles around 40,000 cubic metres of water daily, saving up to 10MW of energy and reducing emissions by about 48,000 tonnes a year.
Oman is also targeting routine gas flaring, a long-running source of waste and emissions across oil-producing economies. Operators have achieved reductions of about 50 per cent in routine flaring rates at several production sites through gas recovery infrastructure and the use of captured gas for power generation and field operations.
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