Sohail Akhtar Mikrani

Maktoom collaborates with partners to introduce innovations and seek further expansion, while maintaining a focus on its core business.

Maktoom introduced flushby units in Oman in 2022. How is this going, and what benefits do they bring to the sector?

This is the first project of its kind in Oman, whereby Maktoom assembles flushby units in country. Before, companies here had to purchase them directly from other countries. We do not sell the product but instead rent it out to drilling companies. We have assembled one unit and hope to do more. The reason why flushby units are a game changer is that when a drilling company finishes drilling, if they encounter any problems they must travel from the oil well to the unit, which is an added cost. These units can be deployed anywhere. We assemble them in Nizwa and transport them to the wells. There are many units in Oman currently, though they are all brought in from other countries—ours is the first one to be assembled locally. We have a local workshop in Nizwa where we work on the assembly and fabrications of certain parts. One important point here is that the team working on this is 90% Omani, including welders and managers. Wherever possible, we hire Omanis.

What other innovations are you bringing to Oman’s oil and gas sector?

One of our partners, a manufacturer and OEM from the UK, has designed permanent magnetic motors (PMM), and Maktoom exclusively represents it in Oman. This innovation resolves the issue of rods breaking in wells when other pumps were working. With PMM, operators can go 18 months without any breaks or interruptions to production, ultimately saving on costs. We also have a Chinese partner for which we manufacture production tubes.

How do you compete with international service companies like Schlumberger?

Artificial lifting is not the only business for large international companies. They have various businesses and are not worried if something is dropped from their portfolio; they have other work; however, this is our bread and butter. Now, we are focused on horizontal and vertical expansion. On the horizontal side, we are adding more products like VOP, which is a part of the system, or PMM. We are working with a Romanian company BDO that is trialing our technology master to overcome issues with solids, sand, and corrosion. The trial started earlier in 2023, and we hope in another six months to receive more orders from BDO for our technology. Romania is a mature field, with its oil almost gone, so it is trying new technologies to boost production. We are focused on tying up with companies that have innovative technologies and R&D teams.

The artificial lift market is expected to grow by over 4.5% from 2022-2027. Do you expect this growth to be reflected on Maktoom as well?

Every country has started to reduce its dependence on hydrocarbons. Production in Oman itself will increase, perhaps to 1.5 million bpd, even though the Sultanate is shifting its dependence to other industries like tourism, manufacturing, and more, it cannot reduce its dependence on oil because it needs funds to fulfill its vision, and oil is the main source of income at the moment. Saudi Arabia is still trying to build an ecosystem away from oil, though as I see it, this is still in its early stages. If it does not work out, Saudi Arabia has not lost much.

What role is there for Maktoom in the energy transition away from oil?

We do not want to shift our focus away from artificial lifts. There is still much room to grow and succeed, and we are focused on solving problems in that area. We have had discussions on solar and green hydrogen but have not taken action yet. The first thing is to build and protect our core business. The artificial lift market will not decline; in fact, it will grow in the future, and we believe there will be more opportunities for us to grab in that area.