Muscat, March 31 – Oman Oil & Orpic Group the Sultanates integrated energy powerhouse says it is exploring opportunities in the rapidly expanding renewables and alternative energy space, according to a high-level executive.

Talal al Aufi, Chief Commercial Officer, said the addition of alternative energy into the Groups portfolio of activities is broadly in line with its new integrated business model and revamped organisational structure designed to maximize the energy value chief for the company and for the nation.

The new business stream is proposed to be developed alongside the Groups core verticals represented by its investments in Upstream, Gas, Refining, Petchem, Trading/ Marketing, and Infrastructure/ Logistics businesses, he noted.

We went back to our shareholders and presented the fact that we are an energy company. (We) highlighted the importance of mega trends in renewables, but decided to come up with a more encompassing term Alternative Energy, Al Aufi said.

Speaking a press conference organised by the Ministry of Oil and Gas recently, the official said the Groups foray into the alternative energy space would be defined during the course of this year. We are still relatively new in this business, so this is something of a work in progress.

Within 2019 we will come up with a more concise plan going forward whether we become a developer, or concentrate on R&D, or perhaps buy into entities that are already well-established in the renewables area, and so on. So this is an exciting area we are trying to develop.

Another area of interest for the integrated group is the energy retail sector part of an effort designed to create a home for the hydrocarbon molecule, Al Aufi said.

He explained: Oman is exporting most of the molecules it produces. So we are still an export-oriented nation. Thus, while we are optimizing value by creating more industries, ultimately a lot of these products will be exported to different markets. But in the last 10 years, there has been a significant change in terms of our approach: its no longer a question of having molecules to sell; Its having a home for these molecules; this is something we are trying to maximize. We are looking at initiatives like buying into retail companies, depots and terminals, but we will be trying to maximise and invest in things that will add to our value chain not only in Oman but internationally.

Oman Oil & Orpic Group already has a well-established presence in the marketing and trading of hydrocarbons refined petroleum products a task handled by its wholly owned subsidiary Oman Trading International (OTI).

Its 49 per cent owned OOMCO is a key player in the distribution and supply of fuels, while the Group also has a sizable stake in Oman Logistics Company (OLC), which operates a major fuel terminal at Al Jifnain as well as a fuel logistics distribution system.

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