State-owned Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is planning to invest more than $20bn in exploration and production activities by 2021 with the objective of sustaining its long-term hydrocarbon output.

"For 2018, the current capital budget is $4.1bn, including approximately $85m of presently identified savings in oil capital expenditure and $60m gas capital expenditure," PDO said in its annual sustainability report released recently.

"PDO plans to invest more than $20bn up to 2021 to sustain its long-term hydrocarbon output. At the same time, we continue to work on providing our shareholders with proposals for alternative financing options," PDO said in the report.

For financing its capital expenditure without taking much aid from the government, PDO also plans to leverage some of its assets. A final decision on this is expected to be taken in the second half of 2018.

"A financing option was presented to shareholders during 2017 in respect to [the] releasing of value from PDO’s working capital. During 2017, PDO continued to work on a significant proposal that would leverage some of PDO assets, with the final proposal being presented to shareholders in the first half of 2018," the company said.

According to the report, PDO's average production of crude stood at 582,196 barrels a day (b/d) in 2017.

PDO received 76.64 million cubic metres of gas a day from the government. "[This] was lower than the initial target of 83 million cubic metres per day due to the introduction of a new gas supplier with the start of BP’s Khazzan field," PDO said.

In 2017, PDO’s capital expenditure came in at $5.8bn and operating expenditure stood at about $1.8bn.

READ MORE:

Oman’s PDO announces large gas discovery