Oman preparing study for Duqm refinery

Oman Oil, the state-run petroleum investor, and International Petroleum Investment of Abu Dhabi are preparing a study on the capacity of their planned Duqm refinery, Oman’s oil minister said. “They are finalising the study to determine the size of the refinery,” Mohammed al-Rumhy said today in a phone interview from Dubai. “It should be ready in the next month or two.” Oman, the biggest Arab oil producer that isn’t a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is going ahead with the project that has been planned at the port of Duqm since at least 2006, according to al-Rumhy. IPIC said in a bond prospectus in October it would go ahead with a 230,000 barrel-a-day plant at Duqm that will cost US$6bn with the investment split evenly with Oman Oil. Oman will produce an average 900,000 barrels a day of crude and condensate this year, little changed from the end of last year, al-Rumhy said last month.