Oman has indefinitely postponed a major petrochemical project to be developed by Oman International Petrochemical Industries Company (OMPET), the Implementation Support and Follow Up unit (ISFU) said last week.
ISFU, which operates under the Diwan of Royal Court, oversees the implementation of Oman's economic diversification strategy
ISFU disclosed in its 2018 progress report that the 'uncertainty and lengthy process of obtaining the Final Investment Decision (FID) by the shareholders' has resulted in the indefinite postponement of all subsequent milestones'.
OMPET was established in 2013 as a 50:20:30 joint venture between Oman Oil Company, Takamul Investment Company and South Korea's LG International Corporation to develop a 1.1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) plant in Sohar to produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at a cost of 410 million Omani riyals ($1.07 billion).
ISFU had said in its 2017 report that OMPET had licensed the technology, completed the Front-End-Engineering Design (FEED) package for the license and appointed Worley Parsons Oman Engineering (WPOE) as a project management consultant. It said the financial closure deadline was set for the second quarter of 2018 and construction was to be completed within 36 months from financial closure.
The plant would have sourced paraxylene feedstock from Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company's (ORPIC) aromatics complex, and created 250 jobs, the report added.
© ZAWYA 2019
