OREANDA-NEWS. The Ministry of Oil and and Gas (MoG) and Oman Trading International Ltd (OTI), an Oman Oil Company group company, announced the registration of the cproject in Block 9 of the Safah oil field, under the United NationsЃf Kyoto Protocol. The project, which is the first of its kind in Oman, will recover and utilise gas from oil wells that would otherwise be flared or vented. As well as reducing pollution and generating CO2 equivalent savings of 775,250 metric tonnes per annum, the recovered gas will be delivered to the national gas pipeline, to help meet the energy needs of end-users. The project has adopted the CDM methodology ЃgAM0009ЃЌ of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Due to its scale, it is classified as ЃgLargeЃh activity.

 It is the first project in Oman to be registered under the Kyoto protocol and marks the beginning of this industry in the Sultanate. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs (MECA) have established a Designated National Authority (DNA) in August 2010 under Ministerial Order No 30/2010 to regulate and approve CDM projects under the Kyoto Protocol umbrella. Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, said: ЃgThe environment has always been a priority under His MajestyЃfs Government, and the Ministry embarked on this long-term project with a strong belief of the importance of carbon footprint reduction across the energy sector. With the assistance of OTI as developer, and Occidental of Oman Inc as operator, the project went through a long journey of getting registered by the UNFCCC and we are pleased to see that Oman has entered the CDM industry with such a large scale project.Ѓh

 Mohammed bin Salim al Toobi, Minister of Environment and Climate Affairs, commented: ЃgThis project contributes significantly to the SultanateЃfs goal of improving the environment air quality and reducing the greenhouse gases; the Ministry is committed to supporting, through the DNA, public and private entities which would like to register CDM projects under the Kyoto Protocol.Ѓh Said bin Talib al Maawali, VP of Petchem and Business Development in OTI, said: ЃgThe Safah CDM project helps to reduce CO2 emissions through the recovery of flare gas at 5 different locations in the oil field. The recovered gas will be compressed and some of it will be used to generate power and some will be delivered to the national grid. The project will be able to monetise the Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) issued by the UNFCCC depending on market conditions.Ѓh

 The CDM projects under the Kyoto Protocol improve the environment and working conditions, and allow for better efficiency and sustainable development. The CDM projects earn tradable, saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits that can be used by industrialised countries to meet part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.