OMAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Sultan Al Ghafri, Nasser Al Riyami, Abdullah Al Aufi and Joud Lashko, Al Khalili, Al Ghailani & Co. LLP (K&Co.)
In most cases, arbitration arises from a clause includ - ed in the parties’ contract rather than from a sepa - rate agreement concluded after a dispute has arisen. Oman is also increasingly selected as the seat of arbi - tration for regional disputes, supported by its mod - ern legislative framework, its accession to the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”), and the availability of institutional arbitration through the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre. The Omani courts have generally adopted a supportive approach to arbitration and regularly deal with applications for the recognition and enforcement of both domes - tic and foreign arbitral awards. This combination of legislative support, judicial practice and institutional infrastructure has strengthened Oman’s position as an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction in the region. It is now standard practice for Omani government entities, state-owned enterprises, government-related companies and sophisticated private-sector parties to agree to arbitration when contracting with foreign counterparties, and arbitration clauses are routinely included in major construction, engineering, energy, oil and gas, infrastructure, mining, procurement, tel - ecommunications, technology and project finance agreements. Litigation before the Omani courts remains the principal method of dispute resolution for purely domestic and lower-value commercial claims, employment matters, real property disputes, consum - er claims and matters that are not arbitrable under Omani law. Where the value or international character of the transaction justifies it, domestic parties prefer arbitration because it offers a neutral forum, proce - dural flexibility, the ability to appoint arbitrators with relevant technical or industry expertise, proceedings in a language other than Arabic where the parties so agree, confidentiality of the proceedings and of the award, and finality, since awards rendered under the Arbitration Law are not subject to appeal on their mer - its. International arbitration is most commonly encoun - tered in Oman as the mechanism selected by the par - ties in their contracts, whether by reference to a foreign seat, most commonly London, Paris, Geneva, Dubai or Singapore, or, increasingly, an Omani seat admin - istered by the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre. It
is also significant in the context of the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards against assets located in Oman, Oman having acceded to the New York Convention by Royal Decree No. 36/1998, and the Convention having entered into force in respect of the Sultanate in 1999. Although Oman is increasingly positioning itself as a regional arbitral seat, many con - tracts connected with Oman continue to provide for a foreign seat while selecting Omani substantive law, with any resulting award subsequently recognised and enforced in Oman under the Convention. Equally, the Omani courts recognise and enforce awards rendered in international arbitrations seated outside Oman and to which no Omani party was a party, pursuant to the New York Convention, provided that assets or anoth - er basis for enforcement exist in the Sultanate. That approach has been reinforced by the establishment of the Investment and Commerce Court under Royal Decree No. 35/2025, since when the Omani judiciary has become increasingly pro-arbitration in its treat - ment of arbitration-related applications. 1.2 Key Industries International arbitration in Oman is concentrated with - in a relatively small number of sectors characterised by high-value, technically complex and internation - ally financed projects. By some margin, construction, engineering and infrastructure account for the largest volume of arbitration, reflecting the scale of the pub - lic and private development projects undertaken in the Sultanate, including large-scale integrated tour - ism, real estate and energy-related developments along the coast, and the widespread use of FIDIC- based contracts, which almost invariably provide for arbitration as the parties’ chosen method of dispute resolution. Disputes commonly arise from EPC and design-and-build contracts, joint development agree - ments, delays, variations, extensions of time, defects, payment claims and termination, as well as from non- circumvention and non-disclosure arrangements between developers and their international partners. The oil and gas sector, historically the dominant source of Omani arbitration, has likewise generated a significant body of arbitral disputes, albeit in fewer numbers than construction. Those disputes tend to be of considerably higher value and frequently arise under concession and production sharing agree -
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