(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Oman's economic growth is getting a boost this year from rising gas production and higher oil prices. The sultanate's nominal gross domestic product (GDP) grew 15.1 per cent in the first half of 2018, according to statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The country's GDP at current prices rose to RO14.7bn during January–June period of 2018 compared to RO12.77bn in the same period of the previous year.
Helped by improved crude prices and increased production of natural gas, Oman's hydrocarbon GDP jumped 37 per cent to RO5.42bn in the first half of 2018 from RO3.95bn in the same period of last year, the NCSI data showed.
The value of oil output surged 25.4 per cent to RO4.16bn in the first six months of 2018, while the value of natural gas output jumped 98 per cent to RO1.25bn this year from RO635.4mn in the first half of 2017.
Oman's non-oil GDP, on the other hand, grew 5.1 per cent to RO9.84bn in the first half of 2018 compared to RO9.37bn in the same period a year ago.
Among non-oil sectors, industrial activities grew 5.7 per cent to RO2.65bn, while services sector grew 4.9 per cent to RO6.85bn. Agriculture and fishing grew 2.8 per cent to RO334.9mn.
Within the services sector, wholesale and retail trade recorded a growth of 5.6 per cent to RO1.1bn compared to RO1.04bn in 2017. Manufacturing activities recorded a robust growth of 13.7 per cent to RO1.27bn compared with RO1.11bn a year ago.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently predicted that Oman will become the fastest growing economy in the GCC region next year. On the back of improved oil prices, the IMF expects Oman's real GDP to grow by 1.9 per cent this year and by more than five per cent in 2019.
The average price at which Oman sold its crude during the first nine months of 2018 rose 32.7 per cent to US$67.2 per barrel from US$50.6 per barrel for the same period of last year. Daily average oil output during the first nine months of 2018 slightly increased 0.3 per cent to 972,400 barrels from 969,300 barrels in the previous year.
Oman's natural gas production and imports rose 11.6 per cent to 34,217mn cubic meters during the first nine months of 2018 against 30,654mn cubic meters in the same period of 2017.
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