Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company – Orpic celebrated the ground breaking of its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) Project- Package 3 in Fahud. Orpic lays the foundation of the $688mn EPC 3 which is the natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction plant, following the foundation of $2.8bn EPC 1 steam cracker unit and $888mn EPC 2 polypropylene and polyethylene units in 2016 in Sohar.
The groundbreaking event was held under the auspices of HE Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Planning and chairman of Orpic board of directors, in the presence of HE Sheikh the Governor of Al Dhahira. The celebration was attended by a number of Walies and Shuwra and State Council members and local Sheikhs from both Al Dhahira and Buraimi Governorates along with a number of officials and community members from the Wilayate of Ibri. Orpic CEO and top management as well as representatives from the contracting companies GS Engineering and Construction, and Mitsui & Co. Ltd were also present at the celebration.
Commenting on the occasion of the ground breaking ceremony, HE Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Planning and chairman of Orpic board of directors said, “We are delighted to celebrate the ground breaking of the LPIC EPC 3 to build a state-of-the-art Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Extraction Plant. LPIC is a key project to develop the downstream industry in Oman in order to enhance the petrochemicals industry and keep pace with the growing demand for plastics in the Sultanate and the region”.
Ahmed Saleh Al Jahdhami, CEO, Orpic said “LPIC is the largest transformational project undertaken in Oman which will contribute to the GDP of the Sultanate by 2 per cent and support creating a wide-ranging downstream industry in the Sultanate. Once commissioning in 2020, we are confident that LPIC will change Orpic’s product mix by extracting more value from natural gas and crude oil.
This Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Extraction Plant will be linked via a pipeline with the project main plants in Sohar as part of an integrated complex that houses also Sohar Refinery, Aromatics Plant, and Polypropylene. Orpic operations then will be one of the most integrated refinery and petrochemical operations in the world and will enable the company to extract the maximum value from Oman’s oil and gas.”
As one of the biggest transformational projects in the Sultanate, the $6.4bn project is the largest of the three strategic growth projects undertaken by Orpic namely Suhar Refinery Improvement Project (SRIP), Muscat- Suhar Pipeline (MSPP) and Al Jifnain Terminal to fulfil its vision of building an Omani integrated refining and petrochemical business. This project will be the first-of-its-kind in the Sultanate and will enable Oman take the downstream plastics industry to the next level.