The Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM) organized the Energy and Minerals Forum in Dhofar Governorate, under the auspices of H.H Sayyid Marwan Bin Turki Al Said, Governor of Dhofar, and with the attendance of H.E Mohsen Bin Hamad Al-Hadrami, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and a number of Their Highnesses and Excellences Sheikhs and dignitaries of the Governorate in addition to those who are interested in this Sector, investors and several officials at the MEM.
MEM is working on organizing complementary roles with the partners in the Energy and Minerals Sectors in which the community is a major part. In the Energy and Minerals Sector, we aspire to highlight works and activities led by the Ministry, since the new investment system in the Minerals Sector has a key role in regulating the licensing process under the concession system which ensures transparency for investment in the Sector as well as contributes to solving many related problems. Furthermore, the public zones system that guides small and medium enterprises has a significant role in regulating the process of selecting companies through auctions to ensure selecting the companies that fulfill all the requirements of the environment, occupational safety and community as well as working on the optimal utilization of the sites.
A part of the Forum will be dedicated to introducing a presentation on the new aspects of investment in the Minerals Sector and the significance of explaining them to urge local companies to take part in them. In addition, a brief on the Minerals Sector in the Sultanate of Oman, particularly the Dhofar governorate will be presented. The Forum is an opportunity for exchanging opinions in addition to discussing the Sultanate of Oman's actual investment in renewable energy and Hydrogen and the strategic orientation for Oman to be one of the major exporters of hydrogen worldwide on which a lot of work that requires concerted efforts will be based. Moreover, renewable energy is one of the goals that the Minerals Sector seeks to achieve to exploit sustainable natural resources as well as highlight it to society and market it abroad as part of the goals of the Sultanate to reduce emissions. The Forum will discuss the preparations made by the Energy Sector for different petroleum and gas products during Khareef Season as well as providing green mobility charging stations for electric cars to Dhofar Governorate.
The Forum mainly targets the Minerals Sector in the Sultanate as well as its role in the development of the national economy and social participation in the Sector. MEM pays great attention to the Mineral Sector in order to promote its role in the national economy system through mining projects led by the Ministry through public auctions and the public zones for local projects that regulate the Sector according to a clear methodology under the principle of transparency and equal opportunities. Moreover, the Forum shed light on the sector of hydrogen and renewable energy as well as the preparation of the Energy Sector for the Khareef Season of 2023, in addition to green mobility.
The Minerals Sector represents a direct and indirect economic resource that constitutes an essential building block in the advancement and progress of the industry and construction sectors because of its basic role in the inputs of these two sectors, in addition to the land and maritime transportation sector. MEM employs its efforts to exploit this Sector in a strategic and organized manner that contributes to establishing an attractive environment for investment that achieves more growth and progress in the Minerals Sector. Furthermore, the Ministry continuously works on the improvement of the work performance in the Minerals Sector in order to achieve the strategic goals that the Ministry looks forward to.
The Forum started with a speech by H.E Mohsen Bin Hamad Al-Hadrami, Undersecretary of the MEM in which he said “We are pleased to welcome all of you to the Energy and Minerals Forum through which we are pleased to discuss the Minerals Sector in Oman, especially the Dhofar Governorate then a general introduction on hydrogen and the most important projects supervised by the MEM will be presented. In addition, we will discuss the preparations of the Energy Sector for the Khareef Season 2023”.
H.E. also said “ Our beloved Country has a unique biodiversity which for five thousand years has enabled Omani people to employ mineral resources in various industries and handicrafts. In addition, borders were crossed to export copper to Meospotamain constituting an effective human civilization across ages.”
Today, we endeavor through an integrated system of work and development of the Minerals Sector, from discovery, and domestic value-added chain to manufacturing and exporting to exploit the minerals resources in a manner that enriches our strategic aspirations to maximize the economic return from this vital Sector. Besides, the Sector ensures its commitment to contribute to the development of the local community and preservation of the environment, in addition to its contribution to urban development by providing the raw materials for building and construction.”
Al- Hadrami confirmed that the Forum comes as part of an integrated system of activities carried out by the MEM to develop the Sector and attract investments. This Forum is a platform through which we seek to communicate and discuss with our partners from the public and private sectors as well as investors and the local community on the main sectors of the Ministry.
At the Ministry, we work to develop the investment system in the Mineral Sector by specifying concession areas for the Minerals Sector to overcome the previous mechanism for receiving requests and create an integrated database that includes geological, geophysical and exploratory surveys which cover all the country. They will also contribute to creating regular and sustainable support for exploratory and mining opportunities in Oman.
H.E, the Undersecretary of the MEM asserted “We aspire to focus the Ministry’s efforts and resources on the minerals of high economic value (metals), in addition to attracting the international companies that are specialized in exploring and mining, enabling the establishment of mining industries, creating various and safe jobs and attaining their related technologies.
Furthermore, MEM allocated several general sites for the local companies for industrial materials represented in building materials such as Gabbro, limestone, marble and ornamental stones aimed at reducing the random locations of crushers, avoiding valleys, allocating locations as far as possible from residential areas, and also allocating general sites after preliminary studies to ensure the existence of raw materials then preparing them for mining.”
In his speech, H.E also said “MEM has taken significant steps to speed the procedures of regulating the Hydrogen Sector, develop the necessary legal frameworks and policies for its growth, and allocate the sites appropriate for its production in order to promote the investments as well as working on localizing this technology, preparing the necessary studies and coping with the international transformations towards carbon emissions reduction.
This is because of the large usage of hydrogen that contributes to diversifying energy resources, reducing carbon emissions and promoting economic growth through a significant and positive step to achieve carbon neutrality which will contribute to realizing a balance between sustainable development, the elimination of repercussions of climate change, and making use of clean technology in order to achieve sustainability, build the knowledge economy and diversify energy resources.
Today, we are also pleased to participate in the preparations of the Energy Sector for Salalah Khareef Season 2023, and green mobility projects as the Ministry’s support to the companies of the Sector by providing the infrastructure for these vital projects in Oman.”
It is noteworthy that the total production of the mineral ores during 2022 reached 63.6 million tons and the total sales of minerals reached 57.3 million tons at the rate of 98.974 million Omani Riyals.
MEM works on regulating investment in the Mining Sector in an appropriate manner that ensures the optimal exploitation of the mining storage in Oman by developing a mechanism to ensure the sustainability of the Sector and ensuring achieving the value-added.
The project of the concession areas comes as one of the projects that will contribute to reinforcing the Sector and promoting economic growth in Oman. Moreover, the Ministry’s vision in regulating the work and speed issuance of licenses through the mining opportunities that are ready for investment and that are offered as concession areas will contribute to establishing an investment portfolio and an organized sector as well as reducing the environmental effects. It will also greatly contribute to realizing the optimal use of the Sector by providing a defined regulating and legislative environment which will facilitate the best marketing process, especially since it has prior approvals and saves the investors a lot of effort and time. Furthermore, the concession areas will place Oman on the international investment map in the Mining Sector which will effectively contribute to promoting the role of its related sectors such as industry and innovation, logistics, construction and other sectors. The project will also promote sustainable development and social responsibility as well as build national capabilities and qualify the workforce in the Mining Sector. It will realize the role of the Mining Sector in developing local communities and supporting small and medium local enterprises, in addition to opening a window for those who have ideas and initiatives to start new projects in the mining-related industries because of the effective role of the project in increasing the commercial activities in the neighboring sites of the concession mining areas.
A presentation on mining in the Sultanate of Oman was given by Engineer Soud bin Khamis Al-Mahrouki, General Manager of the Directorate General of Minerals in which he discussed the historical and geographical dimensions of minerals and Oman’s geology.
He also talked about the most important minerals in Oman. Then, he explained the Ministry’s vision to develop the Mineral Sector in the Sultanate as the MEM adopted a strategy to develop the mechanisms of attaining local and international investment in the Mineral Sector as well as competing for obtaining investment opportunities in this Sector through offering mining concession areas of attractive areas for long-term investments. Defining and mobilizing general sites that have approval for building materials, marble and ornamental stones to be ready for bidding in order to realize equality, maximize the value-added, the optimal use of the mineral resource in the sultanate, and creat attractive investment opportunities. The presentation also mentioned the most significant indicators of the Sector in 2022, and the contribution of the Mineral Sector to the Gross Domestic Product. In 2022, MEM achieved an increase in the gross revenues of the Mineral Sector at the rate of 11% compared to the previous year, since the gross sales of (metallic and nonmetallic) mineral ores reached approximately 98 million OR. Furthermore, the gross production of (metallic and nonmetallic) mineral ores reached approximately 63 million tons. On the other hand, the quantity of the sold building materials in the local market reached 16 million tons which is consistent with the domestic demand for building materials for 2022. He also pointed out the integrated roles between the government authorities, investors, and the community and that the Mining Sector represents a positive motive towards the development of communities by providing basic services based on the mineral ores that work on the development of the infrastructure in communities.
Furthermore, they represent an attractive environment for investments of the private sector through mining activities and production in the Mining Sector as well as minerals-based industries which is reflected in increasing the revenues and exports and works on providing job opportunities. Therefore, all those positive factors that the Mining Sector contributes to their activation facilitate economic diversification paying attention that the mining processes do not harm the social and economic structures or threaten to damage the environment. Legislation and laws must pay attention to all that. Here comes the role of the personnel in the Sector to carry out all the responsibilities that mitigate all risks and to positively contribute to achieving sustainable development in this Sector. This Sector also provides geological and mining information and data on the mineral ores in the Sultanate whether in the form of geological maps, geophysical or geochemical surveys, or excavated or evaluating studies. The Sector also possesses several elements that qualify it to perform an effective role in diversifying the productive base and diversifying income resources whether through the accelerated growth of its exports or its products as raw materials and inputs for many industries in addition to the ability of this Sector to directly or indirectly employ large numbers of the workforce.
The presentation also talked about the most prominent projects and enablers in the Sector including the establishment of a digital platform for mining services.
Implementation operations of the project of establishing the digital platform for mining services to transform the services of the mining sector into digital services, digitally archive them, and establish a data warehouse provided that all phases will be completed by 2024 AD.
Furthermore, the presentation talked about the smart control project. A project of the mechanism of executing the processes of controlling and inspection was launched by using modern technology to promote the smart system through preparing a conception for the control and inspection mechanism by the end of 2023 to pave the way for moving to the implementation phase by the end of 2024 AD. There are projects that the MEM is working on their development, such as the project of offering the prepared sites for marble ore and building materials to auction with awarding (the first and second packages), the project of the economic feasibility study of Dolomite ore (Downstream sector), the project of Al-Ghuzayn mine (under the ground): mining and condensation of copper ore, the project of developing Shaleem Mining Area, Naqa Salt Project, the project of excavating and mining of copper and gold ores that accompanies Square 10 in Wilayat Yanqul and the project of Washy for Mining Copper Ore.
A presentation was introduced on the Investment in Minerals Sector which discussed the new mechanisms for investment in the sector represented in the concession areas, and public zones that aim at developing and regulating the Sector sustainably. Moreover, the presentation explained the assessment standards of auctions, the foundations for identifying and selecting sites, the most important of which is the offer and demand for building materials, the geology of the region, the quality of materials, and others. Several zones that are currently offered for investment were also presented.
On the other hand, an introductory presentation on renewable energy and hydrogen was given, since the Sultanate aims to be one of the leading countries in green hydrogen production worldwide.
Throughout the last few months, MEM has worked on developing green hydrogen strategy and has laid out the structure of the green hydrogen sector. The development of the green hydrogen economy unlocks a strategic opportunity for Omani and international companies to cooperate and participate in supporting energy security at both the local and international levels, realizing economic diversification and reducing the negative effects of climate change.
The government has established the Hydrom Company, which is an independent company completely owned by Energy Development Oman and regulated by the MEM in order to lead the strategy of green hydrogen. The tasks of Hydrom Company include identifying and drawing the lands owned by the government which will be allocated for the green hydrogen projects, structuring the related major projects of green hydrogen and managing the process of allocating them to developers, in addition to facilitating the development of the joint infrastructure and the related industries and centers in cooperation with the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones. Under the supervision of the Ministry, Hydrom has signed the concession areas of lands allocated to the projects of green hydrogen for investment with the developers and has launched the second phase of concession areas for green hydrogen in the Sultanate.
Moreover, OQ Group gave a presentation on the preparation of the company for Salalah Khareef Season 2023 by producing, preparing and transporting the expected quantities of petroleum projects from refineries to storage and filling stations, operating the ships specified for transporting the products and the company’s preparation for emergencies as well as the readiness of the gas product. Furthermore, Petroleum Development Oman Co. gave a presentation on green mobility and the readiness of traveling with electric cars from the governorates in the north of the Sultanate to Dhofar Governorate.
At the end of the Forum, H.H the Governor of Dhofar honored the sponsoring companies that contributed to the success of the forum: Dhofar Mining Co., Kunooz Co., Majan Mining Co., Global Mining Co., Desert Line Projects and Muhammed Ahmed Tahir Establishment.1