Oman’s natural gas production and imports edged down by 1% to 13,532mcm for the first four months of 2017, compared with 13,670mcm in the same period of 2016, Hellenic Shipping News reported.

According to Oman’s National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), non-associated gas and imports eased by 0.4% to 11,261mcm, while associated gas production fell by 4% to be 2,271mcm. However, the natural gas production is expected to increase substantially once BP starts commercial output from its Khazaan tight gas project, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

In related news, a top-level official at Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas confirmed that the state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) plans to divest stakes in its affiliates through Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), Times of Oman informed.

“Oman Oil Company plans to launch IPOs for at least one or two companies under it before the end of the year. It is still under study but we will have the details soon,” the minister stated to Times of Oman, without naming the companies for which the IPO is planned.