Egyptian construction contractor Petrojet says it has been selected by Oman Gas Company (OGC) to undertake the construction of a key gas pipeline that will supply natural gas to end-users at the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The announcement, which came in a meeting between the Cairo-based construction firm and Egypt’s petroleum ministry, was carried by local Egyptian and Arab media this week.
The company said it has been contracted by OGC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oman Oil Company SAOC (OOC), to build the 221-km pipeline at a cost of around $90mn. The 36in diameter pipeline will supply gas from Saih Nihayda, a major gas hub in central Oman, to the massive SEZ currently under development on the Wusta coast.
With the award of this long-awaited contract, a key piece of infrastructure seen as vital to securing the long-term success of the SEZ, will now proceed through to fruition. Availability of natural gas is pivotal to the government’s goal of attracting investors, including those that are dependent on gas as feedstock or energy, to the SEZ.
With BP’s Khazzan project on track to delivering first gas before the end of 2017, authorities are optimistic about meeting the SEZ’s sizable gas demand going forward.
Significantly, the first consumer of natural gas from Saih Nihayda is expected to be Duqm Refinery, which will commence commercial operations in 2020. Also set to fuel demand will be power and water production facilities, heavy industries, cement and mineral processing ventures, metal industries, and a host of other energy-intensive ventures expected to come up at Duqm.
Petrojet is also undertaking OGC’s Salalah Gas Loop Line project which will ramp up gas supply to Dhofar where a combination of infrastructure and industrial investment is fuelling demand growth in the governorate. The 85km loop line ties in with an existing pipeline at Marmul and runs south to Salalah.
OGC is operated by Oman Oil Facilities Development Company LLC, one of four ‘verticals’ created as part of Oman Oil Company’s (OOC) restructuring earlier this year.
