Strong investors demand for Duqm Refinery

Muscat: Oman’s economy is looking forward to the completion of work at Duqm Refinery which will aid Oman in trading with the entire world, according to the refinery’s Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Salim Al Huthaili, CEO of Duqm Refinery, said, “Duqm has been an anchor project and people have been waiting for the project work to start. I have visited a few times there and each time I go there, there is more activities happening. You cannot keep track of the construction activities happening there, which shows that investors are hungry for this project to be completed."
“The project related work there is 15 per cent completed currently. Once the project is successfully completed we can compare it to how Sohar changed over the past 10 to 15 years. We will look at this transformation at Duqm as a key success to attract downstream industries in the area.”
“We have had investments in fertilizers and methanol in Salalah and we are now taking it to the next level. The connection of Oman and Duqm to the market has been highlighted as a key strength for the project. The strategic and ideal location can help the industry to reach India or Africa within a few days," he said.
Ahmed Al Jahdhami, CEO of Downstream at Oman Oil Company and Orpic Group, said, “We are committed to around $28 billion for the downstream industries in the project. This does not include the investments that occurred recently for the Gas GTL (gas to liquid) project announced by the Ministry of Oil and Gas, as well as work by Occidental Petroleum and BP. The current direction is to integrate the upstream activities with the downstream activities."
The senior officials were speaking at the third edition of Oman Downstream Exhibition & Conference (ODEC), organised by Omanexpo and World Refining Association (WRA), which was formally opened on Tuesday at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The event was inaugurated by Hamad bin Khamis Al Amri, Undersecretary, Ministry of Manpower for Labour Affairs.