Tankage capacity aggregating several millions of barrels for the storage of crude oil, intermediate products and refined petroleum products will be developed as part of the estimated $7 billion Duqm Refinery project currently in the early stages of implementation at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm.
Engineering plans drawn up by the joint venture Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC (DRPIC) envision the establishment of major tank capacity at three locations that constitute an integral part of the 230,000 barrels per day (bpd) greenfield refinery project coming up in Duqm. Storage tanks of varying capacity and size will be built not only in the proximity of the main refinery complex in the SEZ, but also at the Crude Oil Storage Park in Ras Markaz, some 80 km south of the SEZ, and atop the Liquid Berth under construction at the Port of Duqm.
According to project literature made available by DPRIC, a total of eight mammoth crude storage tanks each of 550,000 barrels of oil capacity will be established at the Ras Markaz facility. Connecting this cluster of tanks to the refinery is an 80 km pipeline. Both tankage and pipeline components will be executed by Italian oil and gas contractor Saipem as part of the EPC-3 package of the Duqm Refinery project.
Crude received as feed either from Ras Markaz or as Oman Export Blend (OEB) supplied by pipeline from the Main Oil Line will be stored in three huge tanks to be constructed on the 900 hectare site of the Duqm Refinery complex in the SEZ. Each of these tanks will offer a capacity of around 300,000 barrels.
Also envisioned are dedicated tanks for the storage of a range of refined petroleum product streams from the refinery. They include storage capacity for jet fuel (3 x 75,000 barrels), diesel (3 x 186,000 barrels), LPG (6 x 16,000 barrels), naphtha (3 x 92,000 barrels), and Vacuum Residue / High Sulfur Fuel Oil (4 x 252,000 barrels).
All tankage capacity due to come up at the site of the refinery complex will be executed by the joint venture of Petrofac International and Samsung Engineering as part of the EPC 2 (Utilities & Offsites) package. Also included in the scope of the JV’s contract is the construction of a range of storage tanks for intermediate products.
Finally, at the Liquid Berth, Italian contractor Saipem will construct as many as 18 large tanks for the storage of various refined petroleum commodities. These tanks, to be built on the site allocated for the Duqm Terminal, are earmarked for jet fuel storage (4 x 261,000 barrels), diesel (6 x 261,000 barrels), and naphtha (8 tanks in all). These commodities are destined for export, according to Duqm Refinery.
Contracts for the execution of the three Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) packages that together make up the full scope of the Duqm Refinery project were awarded last month. Work will begin in earnest before the end of this year upon the achievement of financial close, anticipated in November.
Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC is a Joint Venture (JV) between Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI).
Conrad Prabhu
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
