April 8, 2015 [Oman Daily Observer] - A major Bulk Liquid Berths Terminal planned at the Port of Duqm will now be implemented in two stages, according to the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD), which is overseeing the development of a mega industrial and maritime hub on Oman’s Wusta coast.
Envisioned in the first stage is a package of works encompassing reclamation and dredging, as well as the construction of the jetty and related marine facilities, to be executed on an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis. The construction of topside facilities, including the installation of product storage tanks, dry bulk facilities, pipelines, buildings, road and other infrastructure, will be covered in the second stage, due to be tendered out later in the year.
Accordingly, a tender notice inviting technically competent international engineering contractors to prequalify for the Duqm Liquid Berths Terminal Project has been revised by SEZAD. An earlier ‘Invitation to Prequalify’, issued by SEZAD in February, had envisaged the implementation of the entire liquid berths terminal project as one EPC package. Announcing the revised approach to the project, the Authority said: “The works shall be split into two packages: Package 1 for Dredging & Reclamation and Marine/Jetty structure; Package 2 for Topside Facilities including Tanks.”
It further added: “The Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD) is now seeking to engage an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor for the first EPC package to carry out the detailed design (based on owner-provided front-end engineering design), procurement and construction of dredging, reclamation and jetty works for the new Bulk Liquid Berths Terminal in the Port of Duqm. A second EPC Package for Topside Facilities is to be tendered separately by Duqm Petroleum Terminal Company (DPTC) in due course.”
Bulk liquid terminaling and storage is a key component of the infrastructure being developed at Duqm Port to support the growth of a major liquids hub as part of the SEZ’s logistics offerings.
A giant refinery and downstream petrochemicals cluster, coupled with a world-scale crude oil park planned at Ras Markaz just south of the SEZ, are part of the wider jigsaw underpinning the vision of a future liquids hub at Duqm. A dedicated area along the Northern Lee Breakwater has been earmarked for the development of a number of terminals designed to the handle the SEZ’s substantial component of liquid cargoes.
International engineering consultancy services firm WorleyParsons is currently undertaking the front-end engineering design (FEED) of the Bulk Liquid Berths project, at the heart of which is a refinery products terminal with six liquid berths, and a Pet Coke berth. The first of these terminals will be built on behalf of Duqm Petroleum Terminal Company (DPTC), which is a partnership of Oman Oil Company (90 per cent) and Port of Duqm (10 per cent).
DPTC’s facilities will handle all of the volumes flowing into and out of the refinery, as well as other related petrochemical investments at the SEZ. The company intends to build a 1 million cubic metres tank storage terminal to support the jetty’s operations at the Port of Duqm.
SEZAD has set May 4, 2015 as the deadline for the submission of prequalification criteria by interested contractors interested in bidding for the Package 1 works. An Invitation to Tender (ITT) will be issued to the prequalified bidders in Q3 2015, with a contract slated for award before the end of the year. Package 1 works are planned for completion in Q3 2018, ahead of the scheduled start-up of Duqm Refinery in 2019.
