Oman Profile | Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production
McLaughlin’s legal career has taken him to the United Kingdom, France, Tunisia, India and Australia. Now based in Oman, he runs the legal function at Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production. McLaughlin, an English-qualified solicitor, shares with GC his view on what it takes to succeed as in-house counsel based in the Middle East.
Oman, like many countries in this region, is highly dependent on oil revenues. Oman produces about a million barrels of oil per day, and about 80% of it is exported, mainly to China. The rest is exported into the local market to make petrol and aviation fuel.
Oman Oil Company Exploration and Production is only about 10 years old. It acts as both operator and non-operator in Oman and overseas. When the government issues exploration and production blocks here in Oman, the government often reserves for itself the ability to ‘back in’ to the development later. So they allow the foreign entity, usually, to invest and look for oil or gas and then if there is a successful development, the government can ‘back in’ at that point. We have been the de-facto recipient of those back- in rights, so we work very closely with the Ministry of Oil and Gas, either as a partner to incoming investors or as a party to these agreements.
