zawya.com - MUSCAT, July 8 (Reuters) - Petroleum Development Oman ( PDO ) said on Wednesday it would build the Middle East's largest solar power plant in a $600 million deal with California's GlassPoint Solar to reduce pressure on its natural gas reserves.

"The project will be fully financed by PDO ," Raoul Restucci, managing director of the sultanate's top oil and gas exploration and production firm, told reporters. GlassPoint will provide technology and help to build the plant.

Construction of the first phase of the plant, ultimately expected to generate 1,021 megawatts, will start this year and the facility is to begin generating steam in 2017.

Oman is an oil exporter but lacks the ample reserves of its Gulf neighbours, so it is eager to get more from its oilfields by pumping high-pressure steam into ageing wells.