Polymer manufacturing plant inaugurated

Muscat: The Sultanate’s first-ever polymer manufacturing plant has been inaugurated on Monday under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tariq Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Personal Representative of His Majesty.
The manufacturing plant, located in the Raysut Industrial Zone in Salalah, is the first of its kind in the Gulf region and has been built by ZL EOR Chemicals Oman – part of the international group ZL EOR Chemicals. The polymers produced will be used for various applications, chiefly for improving oil production.
The manufacturing of Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) polymer was one of the opportunities identified in the In-Country Value (ICV) Oil and Gas industry Blueprint Strategy unveiled in 2013. It is one of a large number of industry opportunities that Petroleum Development Oman(PDO) has been leading in recent years.
The opening ceremony which was held in Muscat was attended by His Highness Timur bin Asaad Al Said, His Highness Sayyid Adham bin Turki Al Said, His Highness Dr Al-Khattab bin Ghalib Al Said, ministers and special guests from PDO and other oil and gas companies in Oman.
Sayyid Asa'ad Al Said in a statement to journalists after launching the plant that it is a good investment by Omani-Chinese partnership as China is the strategic partner for the Sultanate.
The 33,000m2 facility is equipped with modern control, automation and polymerisation systems. The current US$20 million plant capacity is 15,000 tonnes of polymer per year, with plans to expand it in stages to reach a total of 70,000 tonnes per year. It will serve Omani, GCC and North American markets.
His Highness Faisal bin Turki Al Said, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ZL EOR Chemicals Oman, said: “We are extremely happy to open the first-ever polymer manufacturing plant in Sultanate. ZL EOR Chemicals Oman already contribute to PDO world-class enhanced oil recovery projects by supplying polymer, and now locally manufactured chemicals will be used in these projects."
"We are looking forward to expand our successful partnership with PDO and other Omani companies. We would like to acknowledge the continuous support of PDO, our Omani partners and authorities as well as hard and dedicated work of our staff and contractors,” HIs Highness added.
PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said: “PDO is determined to support the implementation of the ICV Blueprint Strategy to diversify the economy and ensure more of the wealth of the oil and gas industry is retained in Oman."
“As we continue to invest in EOR technologies to sustain Omani oil production, we are delighted with the opportunity to source polymer locally, which once again shows our commitment to investing in Omani businesses and people," he added.
“We are working all the time to ensure Omani companies play a greater role in the oil and gas sector and beyond so that we develop competitive, capable, professional and efficient local supply chains,” he said.
EOR allows to extend the lifetime of mature oilfields and substantially increase the oil production. Polymer flooding is one of important EOR methods widely deployed worldwide and used in Oman where PDO runs several showcase projects including the Marmul Polymer phase 1 and 2 projects.
PDO is regarded as a global centre of excellence in in EOR and it is anticipated that EOR will constitute more than 20 per cent of its total production by 2025. ZL EOR Chemicals have been successfully supplying EOR polymers for PDO project for several year, and globally for the past 20 years.
The opening ceremony, which was held in Muscat was attended by their highnesses, ministers, officials at PDO and other operation and maintenance companies in the Sultanate.

— With inputs from ONA