Oman: Natural gas consumption advances 2.6% on industrial, oilfield demand
Oman’s total consumption of natural gas in 2016 rose 2.6 per cent to 40,849 MMSCM against 39,806 MMSCM in the previous year.The increase in gas consumption last year was mainly because of higher demand from industrial projects and oilfields, while total gas use by power plants recorded a decline.Industrial projects, the biggest natural gas consumer in the sultanate, recorded a 4.6 per cent rise in total gas use, at 23,042 MMSCM in 2016 against 22,036 MMSCM in 2015, figures released by National Centre for Statistics and Information showed.Oilfields – where natural gas is mainly used for fuel, re-injection and flaring – recorded a 4.4 per cent growth in gas consumption at 9,163 MMSCM from 8,773 MMSCM in the previous year. However, gas volumes used for power generation dropped by four per cent in 2016 to 7,993 MMSCM from 8,324 MMSCM in 2015.