What possible reason could the Omani government have for saying the want the project if they really don't want it? Why would they lie? One could come up with convoluted reasons of a conspiratorial nature in which OMAG is being played for a fool, but this has been going on for too long for these reaons to have credence. If Oman were just using OMAG as a "stalking horse" for the "real" project, it would have emerged by now.

We have a principle in science called Ocam's Razor, which says that if there are multiple explanations for an unexplained happening that usually the simplest and most straightforward is true. This held true, for instance, in the Kennedy assassination, despite the psychological need for people to look for purposeful conspiratorial plots.

It so happens that the "usual standard excuses" that you wish to be "spared from" are most likely true. They have simply been paralyzed by CYA issues, typical of all government employees, but especially in the middle east.