Gas commitment to determine $2.3b Duqm methanol project

Duqm/Muscat: A proposal to set up a $2.3 billion-greenfield methanol project by Mingyuan Holdings Group Co. Ltd in Duqm will depend on the Sultanate’s commitment to supply natural gas as feedstock.
The Chinese petrochemical giant, which signed a land lease agreement with Oman Wanfang to set up the project within China Oman Industrial Park last week, plans to produce 10 million tonnes of methanol.
“The natural gas is not finalised and the plan is still not concrete as such. Now, we are waiting for the government to give us a direction,” Shupeng Ma, deputy general manager and senior economist of Mingyuan Holdings Group Co. Ltd told Times of Oman.
Also, Mingyuan Holdings Group also has to conduct an in-depth feasibility study to find the market demand, which is expected to take more than six months.
Ma said that Duqm free zone offers several incentives and the formation of China Oman Industrial Park also gives a lot of confidence.
Mingyuan Holdings Group has an asset base of $1.74 billion and the company’s total revenue stood at $5.07 billion in 2015.