Reporting by Saleh Al Shaibany, Editing by Jane Baird
MUSCAT Feb 21 (Reuters) - Oman expects to raise crude oil production by 4 percent in 2011, helped by new discoveries, its oil and gas ministry undersecretary said on Monday.
"We expect to reach an average of 900,000 barrels per day in 2011 from 864,000 bpd in 2010 from new discoveries with other producers," Nasser Al-Jashmi, told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.
"We sold our oil at an average price of $76.50 per barrel in 2010, about 35 percent higher than in 2009," Al-Jashmi added.
Raoul Restucci, managing director of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), which hosted the conference, said the country's major oil producer achieved a daily production of 553,000 bpd of crude oil in 2010, up from 552,000 bpd the previous year.
PDO is the largest producer of oil in Oman, followed by Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N: Quote) with around 150,000 bpd.
Restucci said PDO had made four new discoveries in 2010 but declined to say how much the new wells contributed to its production last year.
"We are still trying to raise production from ageing fields, and we hope our efforts will translate to higher output in the coming years," Restucci said, adding that PDO expected to produce around 550,000 bpd in 2011.
Production dwindled from Oman's peak of 956,000 bpd in 2001 to as low as 705,000 barrels per day in 2006, but the decline was reversed for four years in a row from 2007, a trend that is expected to continue to a fifth year in 2011.
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