Oman Sohar refinery SDA unit 'to come on stream in 2015'

13 September 2011 13:57  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--A solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit at the Sohar refinery in Oman, owned by state-run Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (Orpic), is expected to come on stream in 2015, Honeywell and Foster Wheeler said on Tuesday.

US industrial group Honeywell and Switzerland-headquartered international petrochemical engineering firm Foster Wheeler announced in August that they had won a contract to provide the deasphalting technology for the Sohar refinery, to convert heavy crude oil into low-contaminant deasphalted oil.

The SDA unit is a major part of an expansion project that will significantly increase the Sohar refinery's production of petroleum products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, jet A-1 fuel, gasoline, diesel and propylene, Foster Wheeler said.

The unit will be designed to process 2.5m tonnes/year of vacuum residue of Oman export blend crude to produce deasphalted oil and asphalt for road bitumen production, it added.

"We are very pleased that Orpic has selected [Honeywell] UOP/Foster Wheeler technology for this strategically important refinery project in the Middle East," said Umberto della Sala, interim CEO of Foster Wheeler.

"This latest award constitutes a strong vote of confidence in the added value we deliver in heavy oil processing and continues our successful record in licensing large SDA units," he added.

The terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The deal comes after Orpic awarded the major design and management contracts for the scheme to Netherlands-headquartered CB&I Lummus in May. CB&I Lummus will complete front-end engineering and design studies for the scheme and oversee design and construction as project management consultancy contractor.

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By: Franco Capaldo
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