With the Strait of Hormuz in a chokehold due to Iran-U.S. hostilities, Oman has pitched to India investment opportunities in a new port that could provide uninterrupted access to energy resources from the Persian Gulf.
There is significant potential to deepen this relationship through investments that complement our industrial clusters, strengthen value chains and create new opportunities for growth,” said Raid Al Rubaiey, CEO of Sohar Freezone and Deputy CEO of Sohar Port. “India represents an important and growing dimension of Sohar’s international investment landscape, with established Indian businesses already contributing to our industrial ecosystem.
Earlier, Oman had offered Duqm and Salalah ports to India, but in comparison to these two ports, the Sohar Port has the advantage of being located in the northeast of Oman, close to vital energy pipelines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and eastern Saudi Arabia. Given the risk of accessing ports of the UAE, the importance of Sohar Port has been growing, and Reuters on Wednesday reported that Saudi Arabia was offering more loadings of crude oil to Asian refiners via ship-to-ship transfer off Sohar Port after drone attacks damaged its vital pipeline to the Red Sea.
