Page 17 - DMEA Week 44 2020

DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA

Oman reconsiders Duqm petchem plan

OMAN OMAN is reconsidering plans for a petrochem- associated ACCLAIM high-density PE catalyst
icals unit at its 230,000 barrel per day (bpd) technology for a 480,000 tonne per year (tpy)
Despite putting Duqm oil refinery in light of the coronavirus production train.
the plans on hold, (COVID-19) pandemic. The train will be able to shift between produc-
DRPIC nevertheless The project’s operator, Duqm Refinery tion of high-performance unimodal high-den-
issued a contract for and Petrochemicals Industries Co. (DRPIC), sity PE resins and linear low-density PE,
polyethylene production said in a statement that it had halted front-end Univation said. Univation disclosed neither the
technologies. engineering design (FEED) work. Its board is value of its contract or the timeframe for com-
assessing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the pleting its work.
company said. Earlier DRPIC also awarded a contract to
Construction of the Duqm refinery itself is Lummus for technologies for ethylene produc-
continuing on schedule, with its completion tion, specifically for NGL extraction, butadiene
expected in the first quarter of 2022. DRPIC is extraction and combined methyl tertiary butyl
a joint venture between Oman’s OQ and Kuwait ether (MTBE)-1-Butene separation.
Petroleum. The Duqm project is expected to produce
Despite putting its petrochemicals plan on and recover naphtha, jet fuel, diesel and LPG,
hold, DRPIC nevertheless issued a contract to featuring units for hydrocracking, hydrotreating,
Univation Technologies for technologies for a delayed coking, sulphur recovery, hydrogen gen-
new polyethylene (PE) unit. Univation will pro- eration and Merox treating. The $6bn refinery
vide its proprietary UNIPOL PE process and was 70.5% complete in late September. ™

TRANSPORT

Mozambique issues decree clarifying

laws on oil and gas infrastructure

MOZAMBIQUE MOZAMBIQUE’S government has issued a Additionally, it provides for the operators of such
decree designed to supplement existing laws infrastructure to pay a yearly fee to the govern-
Mozambique’s on oil and gas infrastructure in advance of the ment and specifies the fees to be paid for each
government has issued construction and completion of new LNG plants type.
a decree designed to and associated production, transportation and The edict outlines all of the rules and pro-
supplement existing processing facilities. cedures pertaining to licensing for petroleum
laws on oil and The new edict, Decree No. 84/2020, will not concessionaires and operators, along with
gas infrastructure replace the existing laws, which are collectively contractors and sub-contractors, in the areas
in advance of the known as the Regulations on Licensing of Petro- of construction, demobilisation, installation,
construction and leum Installations and Activities (Ministerial modification, operation and replacement of
completion of new Order No. 272/2009). Instead, they will incorpo- petroleum infrastructure. It covers permits and
LNG plants and rate those laws while clarifying the government’s authorisations and also applies to the storage and
associated production, position on petroleum infrastructure projects. transportation of petroleum products by rail,
transportation and Unlike Ministerial Order No. 272/2009, river, road or sea, as well as operations related
processing facilities. Decree No. 84/2020 states explicitly that both to development wells, drilling rigs, production,
onshore and offshore oil and gas operations and storage and transportation by vehicle.
infrastructure are permissible. Additionally, it The decree makes INP responsible for licens-
goes into more detail about the responsibilities ing and permits for the installation of infrastruc-
of the National Petroleum Institute (INP), the ture and activities related to such installation
state oil and gas regulator, and gives the institute activities. It also states that INP licensing is man-
stronger powers of inspection and sanction over datory for all such activities, whether carried out
infrastructure and operations in the petroleum onshore or offshore. Additionally, it specifies the
sector. type of authorisation the companies involved
The decree also includes a more comprehen- must obtain if they intend to install or operate
sive and up-to-date list of the types of infrastruc- oil and gas infrastructure for a period of less than
ture that may be used in the oil and gas sector. 180 days. ™

Week 44 05•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17