Oman's trade surplus reached 7.5 billion Omani rials ($19.4bn) in December, up from 7.14bn rials in November, largely driven by the oil and gas sector, according to a new report.
Preliminary data from the National Centre for Statistics and Information indicated that the increase was primarily due to higher export revenues, especially from oil and gas, despite a rise in imports.
The total value of merchandise exports in December amounted to 24.23bn rials, reflecting a 6.8 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2023, when exports were valued at 22.69bn rials.
The growth was predominantly attributed to a rise in oil and gas exports, which reached 16.29bn rials, an 18.4pc increase from 13.76bn rials in December 2023.
Meanwhile, Oman’s merchandise imports increased by 12.1pc year on year, reaching 16.71bn rials in December, up from 14.91bn rials the previous year.
Despite the increase in imports, the trade balance remained positive, supported by the robust performance of the country’s energy exports.
Within Oman’s oil and gas exports, crude oil exports totalled 9.91bn Omani rials by the end of December, marking a 0.8pc increase from the same period in 2023.
Refined oil exports saw a significant surge of 185.5pc, reaching 3.85bn rials. However, liquefied natural gas exports declined by 1.9pc to 2.53bn rials.
Meanwhile, non-oil merchandise exports fell by 16.3pc to 6.23bn rials in December, down from 7.44bn rials the previous year.
Among these, mineral products accounted for the highest value at 1.78bn rials, but this figure represented a 36.8pc year-on-year drop.
Exports of base metals and their products remained stable at 1.32bn rials, increasing slightly by 0.1pc, while plastic and rubber product exports grew by 13.3pc to 996 million rials.
Chemical industry exports declined by 19.6pc to 804m rials, and exports of live animals and animal products fell 11pc to 350m rials. Other exports totalled 981m rials, a decrease of 5pc.
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