Page 5 - DMEA Week 49 2021

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA

production capacity, the company has a strategic effectively in place over expansion of the facility.
objective of increasing its overseas downstream
footprint at ‘dedicated crude outlets’ through Terminal velocity
long-term supply agreements that shelter the Meanwhile, the Oman Oil Marketing Co.
company from oil price volatility. (OOMCO) this week launched a new marine
Upon completion, Duqm will produce diesel, fuel terminal at Duqm to leverage the location’s
jet fuel, naphtha and LPG, and will feature units position on the Arabian Sea to cater to East-
for hydrocracking, hydrotreating, delayed cok- West, domestic and regional shipping routes.
ing, sulphur recovery, hydrogen generation and OOMCO said that the terminal would offer
Merox treating. “the highest specification” HSFO, VLSFO and
Meanwhile, it will use up to 30,000 bpd of LSMGO marine fuel in compliance with ISO
heavy crude oil to produce 1mn tonnes per year 8217, noting that the facility has been designed
(tpy) of bitumen, as well as 600,000 tpy of naph- in line with IMO2020 and to “meet the increas-
tha, distillates and vacuum gas oil. ing demands for quality marine fuel”.
In March, OQ announced that it had com- Acting CEO Hussain Jama Bait Ishaq said:
pleted the construction of a $245.5mn gas supply “The bunker fuel market in the Middle East
conduit, connecting the refinery to gas process- and Africa region is expected to grow at more
ing facilities at Saih Nihayda. than 12% during the period of 2022-2025. The
The 36-inch (914-mm) diameter, 221-km commissioning of the bunker terminal means
pipeline has a throughput capacity of 25mn Oomco can now offer the growing number
cubic metres per day, matching the total capac- of Duqm fleet customers access to high-qual-
ity of the Saih Nihayda Gas Plant (SNGP) once ity marine fuels that meet their requirements
potential future expansions are carried out. coupled with state-of-the-art facilities, support
Meanwhile, Mammoet was awarded a con- infrastructure, and above all, effective supply
tract last year covering inland and sea transport chain.”
of nine LPG storage tanks for EPC-2 offsite and He added: “Through this milestone, we are
utilities. taking a step forward to achieving our goal to be
Duqm will initially be dedicated to processing among the top fuel bunker suppliers in the [Gulf
crude oil from the tanks at Ras Markaz, which Cooperation Council] by 2027.”
is being developed further down the Al-Wusta The Duqm Bunker facility will offer pilotage,
coast. The capacity of the first phase of the facility freshwater supply, waste collection, tug services,
had been planned at 8mn barrels but will now crew change, de-slopping services and ship han-
be constrained to 6mn barrels when it comes dling, plus ship spares and dry dock services.
into operation in early 2022 before expanding to OOMCO chairman Hilal Ali Al Kharusi said
25mn barrels, according to project management that the facility would play an important role in
company Oman Tank Terminal Co. (OTTCO). diversifying Oman’s economy while reiterating
The Ras Markaz project has an ultimate tar- its benefits as a strategic location. “The future of
get capacity of 200mn barrels and will be linked the logistics sector in Oman gets stronger with
to the refinery by an 80-km pipeline due to be such initiatives that link us with the rest of the
commissioned this year, though a moratorium is world,” he added.™

Week 49 09•December•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5