Oman backs call to exclude condensate from Opec+ deal

Russia will receive support from Oman as it raises the issue of excluding condensate from the Opec+ production cut agreement.

"Opec includes crude and the rest includes crude and condensate. We want a separation of crude and condensate. If Russia puts this back on the table we would support them," said Oman oil ministry undersecretary Salim bin Nasser al-Aufi, who will attend tomorrow's meeting of Opec and its non-Opec partners in Vienna in place of the country's oil minister.

But if the condensate exclusion amendment does get traction it would be unlikely to be implemented anytime soon and would likely necessitate countries seeking an exclusion to further limit their crude output to offset higher condensate output.

"If condensate was made exempt, they would want us to reduce our crude production. We would go back at next Opec meeting and renegotiate," al-Aufi said.

Oman produced a record amount of condensate in October, as it ramps up production from major projects like Khazzan tight gas and Rabab Harweel. Its condensate production averaged around 157,000 b/d in October, compared with around 113,000 b/d in the same month a year earlier.

But, this has come at the expense of lower Omani crude production as it strives to comply with its 970,000 b/d limit under the Opec+ agreement. Oman's crude production was around 815,000 b/d in October, the lowest since 2013.

By Iain Packham