Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has awarded an $87 million contract to Oman's Shaleem Petroleum Co for the maintenance and rehabilitation of PDO oil wells located in southern Oman, a PDO spokesman said.

The contract, awarded at the end of June, marks the first time a local company has been awarded a major well maintenance contract, the spokesman said.
"The real news is that the contract was awarded to one of the local community contractors," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said the local community contractor programmes, established by PDO in 1988, aimed to provide benefits to local communities living in areas where PDO has oil and gas activity.
"The companies are set up so the tribes of the interior can benefit from oil and gas activity," he said.
The spokesman said there were about 60 companies set up under the LLC programme, providing various services from clearing roads to providing basic maintenance.
"The companies are set up with a lot of assistance from PDO," the spokesman said.
"But gradually with training from PDO, the companies developed skills," the spokesman said.
He pointed to Shaleem as the company that has built the skill set through PDO assistance to manage and run large oil maintenance contracts.
There are two types of companies operating under the LLC programme. Al-Ahliya are larger companies with shareholders and at least several employees.
They can tender for both oil-related and non-oil-related work.
Eleven such companies exist. The PDO provides favourable work opportunities for these companies to provide steady work flow.
The second type, private companies, are small owner-managed companies with no previous experience, the spokesman added.
PDO takes responsibility for training them and building a skill base, the spokesman said.