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Omani crude prices up 45.6 pct in 1999

MUSCAT: Oman's average crude oil price rose 45.6 percent to $17.35 a barrel in 1999 from $11.92 the previous year, an oil ministry official said on Sunday.

"It has been a good second half of the year and if the price of oil doesn't fall below $20 a barrel then 2000 will be an even better year," he said.

World crude prices, which dipped below $10 in 1998, have almost tripled since OPEC and some non-OPEC producers implemented oil output cuts of 4.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in 1999.

Oman, a medium-sized independent oil producer which pumps around 900,000 bpd of crude oil, participated in the global production cuts to help boost prices. It relies on oil and gas revenues for about 65 percent of total state revenues.

Oman's Oil and Gas Minister Mohammad bin Hamad bin Seif al-Ramhi said last week that $25 a barrel of international benchmark Brent oil was "acceptable and logical at the current time".-Reuters