Oman is eyeing up funding from banks and export credit agencies to help finance a US$3.6 billion petrochemical project, said an official from the state-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Industries (Orpic).
It is building a 1.1 million tonne per year petrochemical plant in the Sohar industrial zone. The government could contribute $600 million to $1bn in funding, said Henk Pauw, the general manager of Liwa Plastics, an Orpic project, at a refining conference in Dubai.
“We are still talking to banks,” said Mr Pauw. “We have engaged with export credit agencies.”
The plant, which is scheduled for commissioning in the fourth quarter of 2018, will boost Orpic’s petrochemical output to 1.4 million tonnes per year, he said.
Arabian Gulf countries are building petrochemical projects as part of plans to diversify income away from oil products, build downstream industries and create jobs for a young population.
Orpic is currently tendering for engineering, procurement and construction contracts and hopes to sign them and get investment approval by October this year. Construction is set to start in 2016.
The project will face no delay despite the drop in oil prices, Mr Pauw said.
“For us, the project is very much on,” said Mr Pauw. “The engineering, procurement and construction [market] is relaxing a little bit, and we are in the sweet spot for the project.”
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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