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Oman’s OQGN to use $1.2bn for gas network expansion

By Pramod Kumar
Oman News Agency
The financing will support OQGN’s ongoing operations and next phase of growth

State-owned OQ Gas Networks (OQGN), the sole operator of the natural gas transportation network in Oman, has signed three financing agreements with 16 local and regional banks worth $1.2 billion.

Collectively, the amount is one of the largest syndicates of Sharia-compliant financing in Oman.

It will provide the company with capital in dual currencies – OMR225 million and $620 million – to support its ongoing corporate activities and refinancing requirements, state-owned Oman News Agency reported.

OQGN vice president of finance, Khalid Al Qassabi, said the company is in the process of certifying the Sharia financing rules with local and regional Sharia boards. 

“This financing will support OQGN’s ongoing operations and next phase of growth,” he said.

The company currently owns assets worth an estimated $2.5 billion, comprising gas pipelines, gas supply stations, and other facilities distributed across the sultanate, Oman Daily Observer newspaper quoted managing director Mansoor Ali Al Abdali as saying in September 2022.

OQGN owns and operates the Gulf state’s over 4,000 km long gas pipeline grid. The company is among several subsidiaries indirectly owned by the sovereign Oman Investment Authority, possibly candidates for full or partial privatisation through listings on the Muscat stock exchange.

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