Zawya: Oman refinery output falls 2.4% to nearly 150m barrels

what happened

According to Zawya, Oman’s combined refinery-product output fell 2.4% to nearly 150 million barrels in the first eight months of 2026, from 153.7 million barrels in the same period of 2025. Preliminary figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) attributed the decline to lower production of diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other refinery products, which outweighed gains in several categories.

Automotive-fuel production rose 0.7%. Regular petrol (M-91) output increased 0.4% to 11.4 million barrels from 11.3 million, while domestic sales dropped 9.1% to 10.8 million from 11.9 million and exports climbed 27.3% to 2.46 million from 1.93 million barrels. Premium petrol (M-95) production grew 1.1% to 9.56 million from 9.45 million barrels. Sales decreased 8.5% to 10.38 million from 11.35 million, and exports fell 48.3% to 362,900 from 701,400 barrels.

Gas-oil output declined 6.4% to 50.34 million barrels from 53.76 million. Sales edged up 1.1% to 13.8 million barrels, while exports fell 10.4% to 38.67 million from 43.16 million. Jet-fuel production rose 15.5% to 19.75 million barrels from 17.1 million, and exports increased 27.8% to 16.6 million from 12.99 million. Sales, however, declined 5% to 3.03 million from 3.19 million barrels.

LPG output fell 2.7% to 7.44 million barrels from 7.65 million. Sales dropped 20.7% to 2.02 million from 2.54 million, while exports grew 5.4% to 2.39 million from 2.27 million barrels. Naphtha recorded growth in all three reported measures: production rose 5.1% to 26.19 million barrels, sales increased 4.7% to 9.6 million and exports advanced 3.3% to 16.95 million from 16.4 million barrels.

Petrochemical data, reported in metric tonnes, showed gasoline production up 1.8% to 123,200 tonnes from 121,000, with exports rising 1.6% to 121,000 from 119,100 tonnes. Paraxylene output increased 5.8% to 425,300 tonnes from 402,100, but exports fell 1.8% to 427,400 from 435,300 tonnes. Polypropylene production suffered the steepest decline, dropping 25.5% to 177,100 tonnes from 237,700. Sales rose 26.7% to 24,900 from 19,700 tonnes, while exports decreased 12.4% to 149,100 from 170,200 tonnes. The data point to stronger jet-fuel and naphtha output alongside weaker production of diesel, LPG, other refinery products and polypropylene.

why it matters

The figures show a mixed picture for Oman’s refining sector: stronger jet-fuel and naphtha output contrasted with weaker domestic sales of several fuels and a sharp decline in polypropylene production.

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