Oman’s first factory specialising in the manufacture of cleaning and inspection tools and products for pipelines has been opened in Sohar with PDO support.

The workshop has been designed to supply not only Oman but also to export to neighbouring countries. It will lead to In-Country Value (ICV) opportunities through the employment of Omanis, the transfer of technology and the production of vital equipment in the Sultanate.

LiN SCAN Oman is a joint venture between UAE-based LiN SCAN International and Local Community Contractor Shaher United Trading and Contracting Company, a 100 per cent Omani firm, which offers a range of services, including electrical engineering, plumbing and excavation.

LiN SCAN International has been serving the oil and gas industry worldwide providing in-line inspection and integrity support services for more than a decade. It possesses a huge fleet of cleaning, gauging and intelligent equipment designed for the cleaning and inspection of pipelines. All of it is designed and fabricated in-house and covers the full range of pipeline diameters.

The opening of the factory on the Sohar Industrial Estate will enable the manufacture of such tools, accessories and pipeline intelligent inspection spare parts for the first time in Oman.

A number of PDO representatives attended the official inauguration of the plant, including ICV Development Manager Mohammed Al Ghareebi and ICV Operations Manager Khalfan Al Busaidy.

PDO External Affairs and Value Creation Director Abdul-Amir Al Ajmi said, “This is a great ICV manufacturing milestone in Oman. PDO and other operators, both at home and abroad, can now procure vital equipment cleaning, maintenance and inspection from a local manufacturer working to international standards and specifications. Additionally, this manufacture will create work opportunities for Omanis.”

“PDO has worked hand-in-hand with LiN SCAN Oman guiding and supporting them to set it up and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved for their sterling work to deliver ICV across PDO so that more of the wealth of our industry is retained in the Sultanate. Having a reliable and professional local supply chain makes good business sense, especially in the current challenging low oil price environment,” he added.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Al Bathari, Director of LiN SCAN Oman, said, “We have committed to ICV and delivered on it. We also believe that the Ministry of Oil and Gas and the oil and gas sector are seriously committed to ICV. With close collaboration, we can indeed achieve the ICV strategic goals in terms of job creation and bringing capability and technology in-country.”

“Thus, we would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks and sincere gratitude to PDO and its ICV and Pipeline teams for their outstanding and unfailing support from the outset until inauguration moment which reflects their ICV leading role not only in the oil and gas sector, but across the Sultanate at large.”

“Pipeline Intelligent Inspection and Pigging Technology” is one of 53 oil and gas industry ICV opportunities which were identified in the ICV blueprint strategy conference at the end of the 2013. PDO has been leading on the development and implementation of such a service and has been working hard to realise other opportunities, such as casing/cementing accessories, the provision of carbon steel pipes, and the manufacture of valves, among many,” he added.