Several hundred workers at Oman's state oil firm Petroleum Development Oman held protests yesterday at company headquarters and two oil and gasfields, demanding higher wages.

Around 300 workers in Muscat held up placards. They said they also staged stoppages lasting several hours at the Marmul oilfield and the Karn Al Alam gas field, according to a report in our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN).

'We are the least-paid oil workers in the Gulf. We want to be paid the same as others in other Gulf countries,' said Suleiman Al Harthy, a staff member. The workers intend to strike again today.