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nineteenth century. Although Oman did sign treaties of friendship
with the UK, the Al Said family has independently controlled the
Sultanate for about 250 years. The current ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin
Said, has been at the helm since 1970, when he deposed his
father. Sultan Qaboos has therefore led the Sultanate’s moderniza-
tion efforts across the full range of sectors: economic, social, and
political.
Oman has been an oil-producing state since 1967; its operations
in this enterprise are conducted through the government-controlled
Oman Petroleum Development company, which operates as a joint
venture with Royal Dutch Shell. Oman is not, however, a member of
OPEC like most of its GCC neighbors. Oman’s oil capacity and
reserves are modest: at current rates of production, the country’s
reserves will last only about another 20 years. 29
One consequence of having modest oil production capabilities
is that Oman’s economy is significantly more diversified than that
the economies of other GCC states. As illustrated in Figure 4.3,
nearly 60 percent of Oman’s GDP is derived from the services
sector. 30
While much of the services sector is directly linked to the oil
industry (e.g., construction of housing for oil workers), Oman’s eco-
nomic diversification is noteworthy. Throughout the Sultanate
major infrastructure, industrial, and commercial projects—such as
port construction, copper mining and refining facilities, and other

Figure 4.3 Oman’s GDP by sector (Source: CIA World Factbook, 2007)