Muscat – Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals has signed crude oil sales and purchase agreement for 2024 with ITOCHU Corporation, a leading Japanese trading and investment company.

The agreement was signed on November 29 on the sidelines of ITOCHU’s 50^th anniversary celebrations for its long-term business relationship with the sultanate.

Since the first contract year of 1974, ITOCHU has consistently been the Ministry of Energy and Minerals’ one of the longest private off-takers, responsible for lifting Oman crude.

The 50th sales and purchase agreement for the year 2024 was signed by H E Salim al Aufi, Ministry of Energy and Minerals, and Masaya Tanaka, President of Energy and Chemicals Company, Executive Officer of ITOCHU Corporation, at a gala event held at InterContinental Hotel.

The ceremony was attended by several dignitaries including H E Nasser al Jashmi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance, H E Mohsin al Hadhrami, Undersecretary of Ministry of Energy and Minerals and H E Jota Yamamoto, Ambassador of Japan to Oman.

Tetsuya Yamada, Chief Operating Officer of ITOCHU Corporation’s Energy Division, emphasised the significant growth of ITOCHU’s operations in Oman spanning five decades.

ITOCHU plans to extend its reach into Oman’s low-carbon energy sectors, specifically hydrogen/ammonia, as well as renewable energy business, including energy derived from waste. These are aimed at making substantial contributions to the In-Country Value (ICV) initiative in the forthcoming years.

In addition to its involvement in Oman’s energy sector, ITOCHU is also a shareholder of both Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG and has been lifting liquefied natural gas (LNG) since 2006, in addition to its crude oil contract. The company is also the largest shareholder of Barka Desalination Company, which started its commercial operations in June 2018 as the largest desalination plant in Oman.

ITOCHU also imports Mazda cars and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to Oman and exports French beans from Oman to Japan.

With approximately 90 offices in 61 countries, ITOCHU is engaging in domestic trading, import-export, and overseas trading of various products such as textiles, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, general products, realty, information and communications technology, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.