Thailand’s imports of Omani crude are poised to surge from negligible quantities to at least 24,000 b/d as state-firm PTTEP prepares to ship all of its equity Oman crude back to Thailand. This would have placed Oman as the tenth largest supplier of crude oil to Thailand last year (MEES, 11 March). As for Oman, the vast bulk of its crude oil exports are sold to China on the spot market through the DME exchange.
On 19 May, PTTEP Oman signed a sale and purchase agreement with its sister-entities PTT International Trading Business Unit and PTTT for approximately 9mn barrels per year of 33°API Oman crude. This is the combined equity of PTTEP’s approximately 24,000 b/d from its 2% stake in Oman’s state-led PDO which operates the 600,000 b/d Block 6, as well as 1% in the 90,000 b/d Block 53 and 20% in the Block 61 tight gas development which produces around 35,000 b/d of condensate. (CONTINUED - 260 WORDS)