Omantel launches its enhanced brand

Omantel is embarking on a phased plan to rebrand its business and operations beginning with the launch of an integrated Omantel website for fixed, mobile and internet

Omantel, the country’s largest company listed on the Muscat Securities Market, officially launched its new enhanced brand and a new tagline, “Together”, capping the past year in which Omantel and its subsidiary Oman Mobile had announced a merger and restructuring.

The new visual identity unveiled by Dr Amer al Rawas, CEO, Omantel, signals the entry into a new era. Speaking at a press conference to announce the changes, Rawas said: “This is an important step in the transformation of our business as the enhanced brand has been defined to reflect our new vision, mission and values for the corporation and to form the source of inspiration for our future communication.”

“Our new tagline also reflects our philosophy of togetherness as this is at the heart of everything we do – as we lead the way in bringing individuals, families, businesses and communities together using leading edge technologies,” he said.

Continuing further, Rawas says, “The new look of the brand has been created to illustrate our new operating model visually. We have stayed true to the Omantel logo, which embodies the Omani heritage, in the form of the Khanjar, and have blended it with the orange in the Oman Mobile logo to signify the vibrant and progressive spirit of the group.”

The Omantel name, combined both in Arabic and English, is now cradled and encapsulated in our new brand symbol reflecting one of our values; caring. The company will now embark on a phased plan to rebrand our business and operations. This will start with the launch of an integrated Omantel website for fixed, mobile and internet in the coming few days, rebranding of its buildings in the coming few months and subsequently a revamp of all their retail stores.

SUSTAINABILITY IS THE KEY
Petroleum Development Oman’s operations are becoming increasingly efficient and production has now stabilised. An OER report

For Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), 2009 has been a successful year on all counts. Production levels during 2009 have been stable, new discoveries were made, and exciting EOR projects neared completion.

For the second year running, production of liquid hydrocarbons (black oil, condensates and liquid petroleum gases) has risen. Combined production of oil, condensate and LPG in 2009 stood at 641,000 barrels per day compared to 633,000 bpd in 2008 and 607,000 bpd in 2007.

This improved performance was due to the continued increase in condensate and LPG, valuable by-products of natural gas production. Condensate and LPG production rose from 77,000 bpd in 2008 to 89,000 bpd thanks largely to increased production from the Kauther gas plant.

“This is a record in the history of Oman’s gas industry – indeed, there were times during 2009 when daily output of condensate exceeded 100,000 barrels per day. Although small, LPG production is important for Oman since it is used by most homes as a cooking fuel. Last year, LPG production rose from 1,600 bpd to 1,750 barrels per day. PDO is not the only LPG producer in Oman – the nation’s refineries are also important sources of this fuel,” said John Malcolm, managing director of PDO in his annual media briefing.

Major oil and gas discoveries
Oil and gas discoveries are extremely crucial for the building of a sustainable future and 2009 has clearly signaled that. During the year, PDO discovered three new oil fields, one with a major volume of oil in place. The company has also found a potentially large gas field, which is an extremely important hydrocarbon resource to power the industrial sector in Oman.

Following an ambitious exploration programme in Central Oman, PDO has made a major oil discovery at Al Ghubar South, close to the existing Al Ghubar and Qarn Alam fields.

During 2009, four exploration and appraisal wells were drilled in the field to confirm the discovery, and further drilling to delineate further extensions of the field is planned during 2010. The amount of oil in place could be in excess of 1 billion barrels making it a significant discovery.

PDO has also made two further oil discoveries at Dafiq West in the north of PDO’s concession area and Anbar in the central region of the Sultanate. These four discoveries represent an important success for PDO’s exploration efforts during 2009. They highlight the continued hydrocarbons potential of Oman’s subsurface and show the potential opportunities for further exploration for many years to come.

Ongoing projects on track
As part of a drive towards the creation of a sustainable future, the board of directors approved several major new projects last year. In May, following a successful trial, PDO’s board approved the full-scale development of the Amal East and West fields in Central Oman using steam-based enhanced oil recovery techniques. Amal will thus become the site of the fourth field development project in the company’s EOR portfolio, which currently consists of the polymer-injection project at Marmul, the miscible-gas injection project at Harweel and the steam-injection project at Qarn Alam.

“The hard work of the last few years and the large number of new and planned projects are all about one thing: securing oil and gas production at a sustainable plateau. As you can see, in the years to 2014 we expect to achieve this. Our oil production target for the coming years remains at 540,000-560,000 bpd. Our gas production – and with it condensate and LPG – is set to continue rising, providing a solid base for Oman’s industrial development over the next few years. Beyond this horizon, I would expect oil production to remain stable,” says Malcolm.

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