Oman signs manufacturing deals worth $600m

Oman state-owned energy group OQ has signed agreements with Indian and German companies to develop manufacturing industries in the country.

The agreements, valued at OMR230 million ($597 million), were signed with Germany’s MAK and India’s Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation, the company said in a post on X.

The move intends to maximise the value of OQ’s products and natural resources, as well as create 850 new jobs in line with Oman’s Vision 2040.

MAK will set up a plant in the Sohar Free Zone to produce purified terephthalic acid and polyethylene terephthalate, with an investment of OMR 192 million. 

The plant will have a production capacity of 700 kilotonnes (kt) per year, generating 425kt of paraxylene, a key feedstock. The project will create 700 direct jobs, the post said.

The agreement with India’s Deepak will lead to the development of a sodium nitrate plant in the Salalah Free Zone, supported by a renewable 10-year ammonia supply deal.

The project is estimated to cost OMR38 million and will have a capacity of 70kt per day. It will create 150 direct jobs. 

This month, the government awarded projects worth OMR363 million as part of efforts to boost growth and spur job creation this year. 

• Oman’s OQ starts production at $100m plastics plant
• Oman polysilicon project secures $480m loans
• Oman secures $400m loan for copper mining project

“These projects will boost the economy, diversify the government’s income and have the potential to create thousands of jobs,” the minister, Said Al Saqri, told Oman Television.

The government is projecting a budget deficit of OMR530 million ($1.4 billion) for 2026, a 14.5 percent decline from last year, the finance ministry said.

Revenue, based on an average oil price of $60 per barrel, is forecast at OMR11.5 billion, up 2.4 percent year on year. Public expenditure is estimated at OMR12 billion, an increase of 1.5 percent from last year.