In-depth analysis and outlook of the project opportunities and planned investments

The Omani projects market has historically been relatively small compared with most of its neighbours. From 2005 to 2013, the total annual value of project contract awards ranged between $5.9bn-9.6bn. In 2014 however some $17.3bn worth of project contracts were awarded. The following year, the value of contract awards increased again to about $22.1bn. In 2016 however, following the collapse in oil prices, the value of contract awards in Oman slumped to about $8.8bn, rising in 2017 to about $11.7bn. 

Compared with most of its GCC neighbours, Oman has a fairly small projects market. In terms of annual contract awards, it has generally been the fifth-largest market in the region, ahead of only Bahrain, although it was also just ahead of Kuwait in 2017.

With the Sultanate’s oil and gas fields ageing and the country’s hydrocarbons reserves fast depleting, there has been a keen awareness from the government for many years, that it must accelerate its economic diversification programme. It is this imperative that underpinned the rise in the value project spending in Oman in 2014-15, even as oil prices crashed, and which also explains the relatively strong performance of the market in 2016 and 2017, as the government grappled the
impact of reduced oil revenues on its balance sheet.