Oman refinery, petchem to get govt nod end-May

07 May 2007 09:07  [Source: ICIS news]

By Prema Viswanathan

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Oman's Ministry of Oil and Gas is expected to approve by the end of May, a feasibility study for a $7bn (€5.2bn) refinery and petrochemical complex to be built at Duqm on the country's southeast coast, a source close to the project said on Monday.

"The project's product slate and capacities will be finalised only by then," he added.

The proposed facilities, dubbed Duqm Refining & Petrochemical Complex (DRPC), would include polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), monoethylene glycol (MEG), ethylene oxide (EO), ethylbenzene (EB) and styrene plants, Oman Polypropylene's CEO Mohammed Benayoune said in March.

Oman Polypropylene is expected to play a key role in developing the project. The Duqm PP plant would have a capacity of 1.2m-1.5m tonnes/year, Benayoune had said, but he had declined to comment on the size of the other proposed plants.

Oman Polypropylene, which is owned by Oman Oil Co (40%), LG International Corp (20%), Gulf Investment Corp (20%) and International Petroleum Investment Co (20%), started up a new 340,000 tonne/year PP plant at Sohar in September last year.

The proposed Duqm refinery would have a capacity of 200,000-300,000 bbl/day, according to media reports, and if approved, it will be Oman's third refinery.

Oman currently has two state-owned refineries, namely Oman Refinery with a 106,000 bbl/day capacity and Sohar Refinery with a 116,400 bbl/day capacity.

($1=€0.74)

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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