KUWAIT CITY, Oct 1: The study on establishing Duqm Petrochemical Complex in the Sultanate of Oman, near the Duqm Refinery, will be completed next year. According to sources, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and OQ Oman are the owners of the complex. Sources stated that arrangements are underway between KPI, OQ Oman and Saudi SABIC to take the basic steps that precede the implementation operations, especially since the study focuses on the success of this project due to its location in the Duqm Economic Zone -- one of the important investment areas for the Sultanate, the Gulf and Arab regions due to its distance from political conflicts such as those taking place in the Red Sea. Sources said CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Sheikh Nawaf Al-Saud and members of the corporation’s Board of Directors reviewed the results of the study on the project some time ago.

“After approving the study, several directives were issued, the most important of which is strengthening coordination between KPI and the Omani side to obtain final approvals for the huge project,” sources revealed. This is in addition to eliminating obstacles to the implementation of the project, with the necessity of studying the important incentives to move towards the speedy completion of the complex. It is expected that the foundation stone for the complex will be laid by the end of next year; that is, after the completion of the engineering designs, sources stated. Sources attributed the speed of the move to implement the project, which was proposed several years ago, to the success of operating the Duqm Refinery in partnership with Oman and Kuwait, which accelerated the starting of the implementation of the project, especially since it will depend mainly on feedstock from the Duqm Refinery, such as liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha, in addition to natural gas that will be brought from Omani gas.

The same sources confirmed that studies are currently being conducted to increase the production capacity of Duqm Refinery by 10 to 15 percent in 2025, stressing that planning is underway to increase the production capacity of the refinery from 230,000 to about 255,000 to 260,000 barrels per day. Therefore, the joint management of the Kuwaiti and Omani sides is currently working on developing oil processing and refining units, in addition to seeking to convert some waste into other materials, sources confirmed. Sources added that the partners are also working to increase various products produced by Duqm Refinery due to the high demand for them from international companies in Europe and Africa, explaining that the Omani Sohar Refinery is responsible for the local consumption aspect. The Duqm Refinery is responsible for covering global markets with its products that comply with international requirements.

The success of the Duqm Refinery is due to the experience KPI in managing and operating refineries and its long history in marketing petroleum products to all global markets, sources affirmed. It is noteworthy that a memorandum of understanding was signed by KPI, the Omani Integrated Energy Group ‘OQ’ and SABIC on Dec 8, 2022, which aimed to establish the complex. In addition, this project was proposed in 2019 and was supposed to be implemented in 2020, but the Corona pandemic prevented its implementation. The commercial and operational opening of Duqm Refinery on Nov 7, 2024 and the increase in global demand to purchase the refinery’s products motivated KPC, in cooperation with KPI, to move forward with the implementation of the project with the Omani Integrated Energy Group ‘OQ’, as well as with the third Saudi partner, to seize the opportunity of the success of the Duqm Refinery to also expand in the petrochemical industry, which is gaining popularity globally

By Najeh Bilal
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff