Oman shortlists companies for refinery expansion contract

Oman shortlists companies for refinery expansion contract

Oman has drawn up a shortlist of foreign bidders for a contract to expand its oil refinery in the industrial city of Sohar, an oil and gas ministry official said on Wednesday.

August 15, 2012 11:32 by Reuters

Oman has drawn up a shortlist of foreign bidders for a contract to expand its oil refinery in the industrial city of Sohar, an oil and gas ministry official said on Wednesday.

“We can’t tell exactly how much the contract will be, but bidding is expected to be between $1.4 and $1.8 billion,” a project official at the ministry told Reuters, declining to be named under briefing rules.

He said Oman was looking to add 60,000 barrels per day to the refinery’s current capacity of about 116,000 bpd.

A tender board official said the bidders included South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and GS Engineering , India’s Larsen & Toubro, France’s Technip , Spain’s Tecnicas Reunidas, Japan’s JGCCorp , London-based Petrofac and a joint venture of Japan’s Chiyoda and an arm of South Korea’s Samsung group.

“We are planning for an award in the first quarter of 2013 to the successful bidder. We expect the project to take 18 months to complete,” the official added.

Sohar is Oman’s second refinery after the 120,000 bpd Muscat refinery. The sultanate is planning another refinery at the eastern coastal town of Duqm.