Petroleum and minerals sector in the Sultanate of Oman has evolved tremendously since the ascension of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, may God rest his soul, to power in 1970. 1925 marked the beginning of the petroleum exploration operations in the Oman, with the first shipment of oil 1967. Later in 1971, the Ministry of Economy was established, which was mainly based at that time on the Petroleum sector. Since then, the government has invested in the oil and gas sector and set regulatory laws which confirmed their effectiveness in contributing to the economic returns of the Sultanate and thus contributing to the growth and prosperity of the country. In 1970 there was one concession block and three oil fields only covering the whole Sultanate, operated by one company . Today, there are around 50 concession blocks, operated by more than 20 operators running over 330 oil and gas fields.
As for the minerals sector, geological and exploration works were limited to the work for foreign companies that explored for oil until 1974. Accordingly, there were a small number of geological maps of limited use due to the small scale of the drawing and the meager information contained in them. The mining sector activities started by using modern means in 1973, which resulted in the discovery of three sites of copper and other sites for chromium ore. Today the Sultanate produces various minerals, taking advantage of the geological diversity across the Sultanate's governorates.