Wood awarded FEED contract for Oman's first petrochemicals cracker - a 1.6 mln tpa mixed-feed steam cracker

14-Jun-19

The contract for Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for Oman's first petrochemicals cracker has been awarded to London-listed engineering firm Wood. Wood is the project management contractor for the refinery's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phase. Construction of the refinery started in early 2019 and is scheduled to take 36-40 months. The planned 1.6 mln tpa mixed-feed steam cracker is due to come online by 2026. DRPIC is a 50:50 joint venture between state-owned Oman Oil (OOC) and state-owned Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI). Oman has estimated the total cost of the project at around US$7 bln. The petrochemicals development forms the second stage of an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex planned by DRPIC.

Plant capacity comprises ethylene from selected Duqm refinery product streams, including LPG, straight run naphtha, off gases and NGLs, as well as some products for the first time in Oman such as ethylene glycols, oxo chemicals and butadiene. The product slate will primarily consist of diesel, jet fuel, naphtha and LPG, and will be marketed by Oman's state-run trading firm OTI. The petrochemicals FEED includes an NGL extraction facility in central Oman and a 230km pipeline from concession areas to the petrochemicals complex in Duqm. Oman's state-owned Oman Oil and Orpic will take the lead in developing the NGL extraction unit and required pipeline.