Development of proposed greenfield Omani refinery continues
Privately owned Ras Madrakah Petroleum Industry Co. LLC (RMPIC) and Chinese state-owned Yanchang Petroleum International Ltd. (aka Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group Corp. Ltd.) have, through a consultant, completed the bankable feasibility study for their previously announced plan to develop a 200,000-b/d grassroots refinery to be built on 800 hectares of land in the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD) at the Port of Duqm, on Oman’s eastern coast along the Arabian Sea (OGJ Online, July 2, 2021).
With the feasibility study completed by energy services provider Genoil Inc. as of May 10 and multiple project-related agreements now in place, project proponents are now proceeding to finalize development of the proposed greenfield refinery, Genoil said in a release.
Genoil additionally confirmed RMPIC’s refinery license—the only private of its kind to ever be granted by the government of Oman—includes local licenses that will allow for export and import of products; sea and coastal transport of oil and gas; as well as construction of petrochemical complexes.
The local licenses, which have no limitation on project capacity, also will allow for future expansion of the proposed refining complex, Genoil said.
Details regarding a timeline for ongoing development of the project—including start of construction—have yet to be revealed by RMPIC, Yanchang Petroleum, or Genoil.
Project background
This latest update on the proposed Omani grassroots refinery follows the June 2021 contract award by RMPIC and Yanchang Petroleum subsidiary Beijing Petrochemical Engineering Co. Ltd. (BPEC) to Genoil for licensing of its proprietary Genoil Hydroconversion Upgrader (GHU) technology. As part of that contract, Genoil also was to deliver the process design package, training, advisory services, proprietary catalyst, and equipment supply for the project.
At the time of the 2021 contract award, Genoil confirmed BPEC previously was selected to perform the feasibility study, front-end engineering design (FEED), as well as deliver project management and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services for the entire project, which alongside the refinery itself, was to cover:
- Nine crude storage tanks of 500,000 bbl each for a tank farm in Ras Markaz.
- A project export terminal.
- Other necessary infrastructure, including an 80-km long, 28-in. diameter underground pipeline that would deliver feedstock from the Ras Markaz tank farm to the refinery.
With all funding, licenses, permits, feedstock supply, and product offtake agreements—including three crude oil supply agreements for the refinery’s 200,000-b/d feedstock requirements, as well as three offtake agreements for purchase of finished products from the site—in place as of mid-2021, the proposed $2.4-billion refinery project was previously scheduled to begin immediately.
To date, project proponents have disclosed no explanations for the subsequent delay to the refinery’s development plan.
If completed, the RMPIC-owned refinery—which will be jointly operated by BPEC and Yanchang Petroleum—would become the region’s second, to be preceded by startup in 2023 of the long-planned 230,000-b/d integrated refining complex under construction in the Duqm SEZAD by OQ8 (formerly Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries Co. LLC)–a joint venture of state-owned OQ SAOC (OQ) and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. subsidiary Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. (Q8) (OGJ Online, Nov. 5, 2020).
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
