Oman-Kuwait JV approves EPC contractors to start on Duqm refinery

June 6, 2018
Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries Co. has issued contractors a formal notice to proceed with work on three previously awarded contracts for EPC of its long-planned 230,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical complex to be built in the Duqm Special Economic Zone in Duqm, Al Wusta Governate, Oman.

Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries Co. LLC (DRPIC), Muscat, a joint venture of state-owned Oman Oil Co. and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd., has issued contractors a formal notice to proceed (NTP) with work on three previously awarded contracts for engineering, procurement, and construction of its long-planned 230,000-b/d refinery and petrochemical complex to be built in the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD) in Duqm, Al Wusta Governate, Oman (OGJ Online, Apr. 4, 2017).

The NTP clears the way for official start of EPC work on the project, which is scheduled to be completed and ready for startup in 42 months from the NTP’s early June issuance, DRPIC said.

Initially, contractors will allocate resources to complete detailed engineering design work at their home offices with participation of DRPIC staff, the operator said.

The NTP follows an official groundbreaking ceremony for the project held in late April.

With a combined value of $5.75 billion, the three EPC packages include:

• EPC Package 1, the largest of the project’s three packages, covering EPC and commissioning of all main process units at the refinery by a JV of Tecnicas Reunidas SA and Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd.

• EPC Package 2, covering delivery of EPC as well as commissioning, training, and other startup services for the refinery’s utilities and offsites by a consortium of Petrofac International Ltd. and Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd.

• EPC Package 3, covering EPC, commissioning, and operation services for the project’s associated off-site installations, including a product storage and export terminal at Duqm Port, a crude tank farm at Ras Markaz, and an 80-km crude oil pipeline from Ras Markaz to the refinery complex by a consortium of Saipem SPA of Italy and McDermott International Inc. (formerly CB&I) (OGJ Online, Feb. 15, 2018; Sept. 18, 2017; Aug. 7, 2017).

Primarily designed to produce and recover naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, and LPG, the Duqm refinery will include units for hydrocracking, hydrotreating, delayed coking, sulfur recovery, hydrogen generation, and Merox treating.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].