Planning of National Transport Infrastructure
In the Islamic Countries
133
In 2015 Oman produced 360 million barrels of oil and condensate – about a million barrels per
day. It is worth remarking that pipelines are as important to oil producing countries as railways
have been for coal producing countries. Oman has over 8,000 km of pipeline for moving
condensate/gas 4,330 km, refined products 3,940 km and also 264 km of water pipelines. The
pipeline network is the responsibility of the Ministry of Oil and Gas. The allocation of pipelines
to ministry’s responsible for energy as opposed to transport is often questioned.
3.6.4. Procedural Factors and Financing
The planning procedures in Oman are laid out by the Supreme Council for Planning (SCP). SCP
set all the government authorities defined time periods for elaboration and execution of
projects. For the projects that did not start (whether forwarded from previous development
plans, those not contracted for, or the new proposed projects for the 9th Plan) a newmechanism
shall be applied for defining the allocations of the development budget as follows:
1. Exclusion of the on going projects.
2. Priority for Royal Orders projects,
3. Priority for those with previous approvals
4. And finally, for the projects that maintain existing government assets and the natural
growth of the economy.
In defining the level of priority for the remaining projects, the SCP mandates that these shall be
on the basis of economic, social and environmental returns and must conform with the Plan’s
objectives. The economic return shall be defined as the share of the sector in the GDP, the
provision of employment opportunities, the contribution to economic diversification related to
the pre-defined economic sectors. The social return shall be defined as being based on the
contribution projects make to human development, building of national capabilities of youth,
provision of social needs for all citizens, and development of services and expansion of scope of
e-government services. The environmental aspects are defined according to the ability of
projects to preserve the environment and limit the impacts of natural disasters and the floods
according to SCP rules (SCP, 2016).
The method for project approval is also mandated by the SCP, which requires that projects will
be approved after completion of feasibility studies and legal and technical procedures.
Prioritisation takes into consideration the ceiling for expenditure and the capacity of authorities
for implementation. The SCP requires projects that were started during the previous Five-Year
Plan be brought forward and awarded the highest priority during the first three years of the 9th
Plan. The SCP particularly requires that ‘mega’ strategic projects are also at the top of the list for
fiscal provision, this means that after deducting for committed and mega projects, a new budget
is created and available for the project to be considered for the 9th Plan (SCP, 2016).
The level of consultation and stakeholder participation in NTI planning that includes other
sectors other than transport planning institutions is high within the public sector but not with
the private sector and there is no legal basis enforcing public consultation in NTI decision
making. However, local opinion is that the inclusion of assessment of transport user needs
(market survey/research) to shape the transport agenda is carried out and that this process
includes matters of users’ affordability. Very likely the willingness to pay for services is a part of