August, 2021 [S&PGlobal] – Oman is putting the finishing touches on an crude storage center outside the Strait of Hormuz, the Duqm Special Economic Zone said in a Aug. 15 tweet, that can eventually hold more than 200 million barrels as the Gulf state seeks to attract international oil companies to park their cargoes in the country.
Ras Markaz Oil Storage Park will have an initial capacity to hold 25 million barrels starting in Q1 2022, Salim al Hashmi, project general manager at developer Oman Tank Terminal Co., told the zone’s Duqm Economist Magazine in its quarterly issue published in July.
Ras Markaz Oil Storage Park will receive oil by sea through ships that will pump oil to the facility through pipelines extending to 7 km at sea and 3.5 km on land and in the future the facility may be connected to Oman’s oil fields, Ard Van Hoof, CEO of Oman Tank Terminal Co., told the magazine.
“We have started, in cooperation with international consulting companies, preparing three feasibility studies to assess the possibility of connecting Ras Markaz Park to oil fields in the future,” Van Hoof said. “This comes with aim to supply the refinery with its crude oil needs and establish an alternative site for the export of crude oil.”
Oman currently exports its crude via the Mina al Fahal terminal in the Persian Gulf, but having a second export facility at Ras Markaz can help the country deal with surplus production, according to the article
JV refinery
The storage park also can be a source of oil from Duqm refinery, which is connected to the facility with an 80-km long pipeline and eight tanks built to store the refinery’s oil, the article added.
The 230,000 b/d Duqm refinery is a is a 50-50 joint venture owned by Oman’s OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International (Q8), called Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Co. (OQ8).
The refinery has been under construction since 2018, and is expected to start up in 2022.
Once operational, Duqm refinery will receive 65% of its crude volume from Kuwait, and the remaining 35% will be Omani crude, with both grades stored at Ras Markaz.
The Duqm special economic zone and port is the site of several energy infrastructure projects under development and construction. Plans to build a pipeline network, bunker terminal facility and petrochemicals plant at Duqm are also underway.
Earlier this year, Canada Business Holdings (CBH) announced plans to build a 300,000 b/d ultra-low sulfur fuel oil refinery project at Duqm. It will process residue output from OQ and Kuwait Petroleum international’s 230,000 b/d Duqm refinery project as part of its feedstock, CBH has said.
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