By: AGBI

Oman’s state-run OQ Exploration and Production (OQEP) is to buy Mitsui E&P Middle East’s stake in an oil block in the north of the sultanate. 

The OMR29 million ($75 million) acquisition of 35 percent of block 27 will add 3,500 barrels per day of crude oil to OQEP’s output, the company said in a bourse disclosure. 

US petroleum company Occidental owns the remaining 65 percent of the 1,254 sq km block. 

OQEP wants to maximise domestic growth opportunities this year and to expand across the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on international and local mergers and acquisitions.

“We are having very clear screening criteria when it comes to the selection of the assets,” CEO Mahmoud Al Hashmi said. 

Al Hashmi said OQEP, like other oil companies, is monitoring the regional conflict and working closely with the government. 

He said the Strait of Hormuz closure has had no impact on its production, as most of it comes from Mina Al Fahal and Duqm, which are outside the strait.

Under its 2030 growth strategy, the company wants to achieve 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and maintain its reserves ratio at 100 percent. 

The OQ Group subsidiary’s net profit fell 15 percent to OMR278 million last year, from OMR327 million in 2024. 

OQEP has been listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange since October 2024. Its share price of OMR0.49 has risen by about a third since the start of the year