Oman will shortly allocate a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for a 280-km pipeline connecting Sohar and Muscat refineries, according to Omani Minister of Oil and Gas Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy.
“We are on the verge of awarding the Feed to a contractor. The project is on track and everything is going very well,” Al Rumhy told reporters on the sidelines of the graduation ceremony of a number of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) scholars held on Monday.
The project, which is being developed by the state-owned Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic), comprises two phases — the first one will link Mina Al Fahal refinery in Muscat with the international airport and the second phase is for building a new terminal and a pipeline connecting the terminal with Sohar Refinery.
The project will increase the storage capacity for diesel and petrol and will connect the current storage facilities in Sohar and Mina Al Fahal refineries so that they can cope with ever growing demands for petroleum products.
Asked about the project for constructing a 250-km-long and 36-inch pipeline to transport natural gas to industries coming up in Duqm from Saih Al Nihayda in central Oman, the minister said that Oman Gas Company should comment on the project.
“But I understand that it is going well. It is in the tendering process now. They have already maybe awarded the procurement site for the pipes and they will arrive soon.”
He also said that work on the joint venture between the Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the Omani government to build a refinery in Duqm is going fine.
“My understanding is that it is on schedule,” he noted.
Commenting on British oil giant BP’s project in khazzan, Al Rumhy said that the contract for surface facilities has been awarded.
A drilling contract has also been awarded to a number of rigs, he added. “A number of oil (wells) have been drilled.” He also said that work on the Iran-Oman gas pipeline is underway.
In addition, he said that the government is selective about the expansion projects, including the Sohar Aluminium project, and will give priority to the projects that will generate maximum value.
“Gas is limited, and we are in a situation where we cannot supply everybody who wants gas… so we will look at all the projects that will give us maximum value… If we have gas we will give it to them. If we do not have gas, we do not have gas.
There is nothing we can do about it.” He also said that the government is not focusing only on projects in Sohar and Duqm and intend to create industrial zones in Salalah and all across the country, albeit in smaller sizes. Al Rumhy also stated that studies on offshore projects are well underway. Masirah is a good project and Total is studying it, he concluded.
