Orpic awards US$895 mln contract to Maire Tecnimont for Liwa plastic complex in Oman

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has awarded an EPC contract to Tecnimont, a subsidiary of Maire Tecnimont Group for a polyethylene plant and a polypropylene plant to be set up within the Liwa Plastic Industries Complex (LPIC) project. The contract is valued around US$895 mln and is one of four packages that will make up the LPIC complex. Both the polyethylene and polypropylene units will be situated in the Sohar Industrial Port Area and the plant will be built using Sultanate of Oman and PE Univation Technologies and PP Basell Poliolefine technology. Constructions of the plants are expected to begin by March next year and completion is expected in the fourth quarter of 2019. Under the deal, Tecnimont will provide engineering services, equipment and material supply for the commissioning, start up and test running of both the plants. The 880,000 tpa polyethylene plant will have two swing units including a high density polyethylene (HDPE) and a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit. The polypropylene plant will have a capacity of 300,000 tpa. Maire Tecnimont chief executive officer Pierroberto Folgiero said: "We feel really honoured to contribute to Oman's industrial development with such a strategic initiative, enabling the Country to produce polyethylene for the first time, which rates highest in the world in terms of global demand." So far, Orpic has signed over 15 agreements to build, operate and finance the Liwa Plastic Industries Complex, valued at US$6.4 bln. Over 20 local and international bank as well as financial institutions and export credit agency have agreed to provide US$3.8 bln to the entire project. Out of the 15 contracts, ORPIC has awarded four engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) contracts, valued at $4.5 bln to CB&I and CTCI Corporation joint venture, GS Engineering and Construction and Mitsui & Co. joint venture, Punj Lloyd and Technimont. Orpic CEO Musab Al Mahruqi said: "We are confident that once plant commissioning is completed in 2019, LPIC will change Orpic's product mix by extracting more value from natural gas and crude oil. "Being located in Sohar as part of an integrated complex that houses also Sohar Refinery, Aromatics Plant, Polypropylene and Steam Cracker Unit for LPIC, Orpic operations will be one of the most integrated refinery and petrochemical operations in the world and will enable the company to extract the maximum value from Oman's oil and gas." LPIC is one of three strategic growth projects of Orpic namely. The projects include Sohar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP), Muscat- Sohar Pipeline (MSPP) and Al Jifnain Terminal.