Oman’s Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries Company (DRPIC), a JV of state firm OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International on 22 September awarded US firm Lummus Technology the licensing, process design, proprietary catalyst and equipment contracts for petrochemicals units to be integrated with the 230,000 b/d under-construction Duqm refinery on Oman’s Arabian Sea coast. Lummus says units to be licensed include 48mn cfd NGL extraction, 1.6mn t/y ethylene, 161,000 t/y butadiene extraction and 145,000 t/y methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). DRPIC awarded front end engineering design for the petchems complex, NGL extraction plant and 230km feedstock pipeline to UK’s Wood Group last year (MEES, 7 June 2019).
DRPIC started building $8bn Duqm refinery in early 2019 and anticipated completion in 2022. Partners expect construction to take 4-5 years after the final investment decision is reached (MEES, 22 March 2019). Rating agency downgrades for Oman, the latest by Fitch to BB-, suggest raising finance could be a long haul (MEES, 28 August). (CONTINUED - 156 WORDS)