On the back of strong growth in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and high international prices, National Gas Company, a major supplier of LPG in Oman, reported a 62 per cent rise in net profit for the six-month period ended June 30, 2011. However, due to the fixed quota on selling LNG to local distributors, the Omani market remained constrained in terms of volume growth as well as prices. Net profit grew to RO648,000 from RO399,000 in the same period of last year, according to a filing with the Muscat Securities Market (MSM). Speaking to Muscat Daily, Nalin Kumar Chandna, finance controller of National Gas, said that the more than 50 per cent growth in export volumes clubbed with favourable prices in the international market contributed to the net profit. "Our export business and synthetic natural gas (SNG) projects contribute a lot to income growth. Export turnover accounted for more than 50 per cent of total sales in the six-month period. However, supply and price constraints prevent us from expanding in the local market. As a result, sales volume and revenue did not increase in the local market. The quota for local supply has been fixed for the past many years and is not being revised. So, the growth has to come from international markets," Chandna said. In the first quarter of this year, National Gas begun to execute a large SNG project for ArcelorMittal's upcoming plant in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. As part of its intention to have a significant presence in the Far East, National Gas also identified countries like Malaysia and Vietnam with the potential for successful SNG project deployment. The company's net assets grew by 7.6 per cent in the first half of this year to RO8.5mn compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

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