While natural gas will continue to serve as an important bridge fuel for industry in Oman’s Special Economic Zone at Al Duqm (SEZAD), the transition to green hydrogen as a primary energy source is firmly on track, stated Shaikh Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ).
In the first week of November 2025, the Integrated Gas Company (IGC), the sole aggregator and supplier of natural gas in the Sultanate of Oman, signed contracts allocating 18.614 million standard cubic metres per day (MMscmd) of natural gas for industrial consumers in Al Duqm. This volume far exceeds commitments to Suhar (4.747 MMscmd), Sur (4.330 MMscmd) and Salalah (0.525 MMscmd), underscoring Duqm’s growing prominence as Oman’s leading industrial hub.
While speaking to the Oman Daily Observer, Dr Al Sunaidy highlighted natural gas’s pivotal role as a transition fuel ahead of the large-scale adoption of green hydrogen in Al Duqm.
“As you know, Al Duqm has the capacity to receive 25 million cubic metres of gas per day, part of which has already been assigned to companies that are transitioning to green energy. For example, the green steel project will initially use gas and later switch to green hydrogen or its derivatives,” the senior official said, while adding that even the refinery is working to reduce its reliance on natural gas by shifting to cleaner energy sources, particularly green hydrogen.
“Not only are its furnaces expected to be powered by green hydrogen, but warehousing operations and mobility systems are also planned to draw electricity increasingly generated from renewable sources such as solar and wind,” Dr Al Sunaidy remarked.
“So yes, we are allowing a transition period for industries until power from green energy becomes more competitive — which it already is. As you know, (India’s) Acme Group is currently building a green hydrogen project and has a contractual agreement with Europe to export green ammonia by 2027,” he continued, while noting, “similarly, the green steel project is already under construction and designed to transition to green energy in due course. So for everyone coming to Al Duqm, we are insisting from the design stage that they factor in their transition to green energy.”
Duqm SEZ is expected to become the first major industrial hub in Oman to consume green hydrogen as a locally produced low-carbon energy source. This hydrogen will also underpin the zone’s broader decarbonisation efforts, like powering furnaces, steel production and warehousing operations.
SEZAD is integrating green hydrogen as both a feedstock and an energy source, in alignment with Oman’s “Vision 2040” and the nation’s “Net Zero 2050 goal.”