November 25, 2013 [Oman Daily Observer] - Plans for a crude oil pipeline that will link central Oman with a mammoth crude oil storage terminal proposed at Ras Markaz on the Sultanate’s Wusta coast, are in the nascent stages, according to the head of Oman Gas Company (OGC).
Yousuf bin Mohammed al Ojaili, Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned entity, said preliminary discussions are under way with the government, as well as the company set up by authorities to oversee the implementation of the Ras Markaz Crude Oil Park. The Oman Tank Terminal Company LLC (OTTCO), a joint venture between the wholly government owned energy investment vehicle Oman Oil Company (90 per cent) and its downstream investment subsidiary Takamul Investment Company SAOC (10 per cent), plans to develop the terminal in a phased manner. At full capacity, the terminal will hold around 200 million barrels of crude, effectively making it one of the largest oil storage hubs in the world. Additionally, the facility will serve as an alternative to the Sultanate’s only crude export terminal at Mina al Fahal in Muscat.
OGC, which owns and operates the country’s domestic gas grid (outside of the network owned by Petroleum Development Oman) is widely expected to build the pipeline that will supply crude from the Main Oil Line at Nahada in central Oman to the Ras Markaz Crude Oil Park. “This (pipeline project) is in the very early feasibility study stages,” said Al Ojaili. “Discussions are under way with the government and The Oman Tank Terminal Company on the volumes of oil that will be supplied to the storage tanks at Ras Markaz, and the supplies to the refinery proposed in the Duqm area,” the CEO said in remarks at a key infrastructure forum held in the city recently.
Provisional plans drawn up by the government envisage a 130km pipeline that plugs into the Main Oil Line at Nahada and travels to Saih Nihayda. Another 230km pipeline then channels the crude from Saih Nihayda to Ras Markaz. Significantly, the proposed crude oil pipeline is one of two strategically important pipeline projects that OGC is looking to implement in the Duqm area. While oil pipeline project is still in its infancy, the Duqm gas pipeline project, on the other hand, has made much headway in its planned implementation.
“The gas pipeline is a firm project, approval for which has already been granted by the government,” said Al Ojaili. “It’s an infrastructure project that will be ready by 2017 to supply gas to the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ).”
