Oman has received bids from at least five companies vying to build a refined products pipeline linking Muscat with the northern industrial port of Sohar, according to sources close to the bidding process.

State-owned Oman Oil Refineries & Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) tendered the estimated $200m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) deal earlier this year.

Companies submitting proposals include Indian groups Essar, Larsen & Toubro and Punj Lloyd, the local Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trading (GPS) and Egypt-based Petrojet.

Orpic was initially planning to build the project in three phases, but the EPC work has now been combined into one package, sources tell MEED.

The scheme will connect the Mina al-Fahal (Muscat) and Sohar refineries with a 280-kilometre pipeline to an intermediate distribution and storage facility at Al-Jifnain near Muscat.

Muscat International airport will receive aviation fuel directly from Al-Jifnain, which will have the capacity to store 175,000 cubic metres of oil products.

The two-way multi-product pipeline is aimed at removing the need for Orpic to ship and truck refined products, thereby lowering costs and reducing traffic around Muscat. Heavy fuel-tank truck traffic in Muscat is expected to drop by 70 per cent after the project’s completion.

The work is being carried out by Orpic Logistics Company, a joint venture of Orpic (60 per cent) and Spanish fuel transportation and storage company Compania Logistica de Hidrocarburos (CLH, 40 per cent).

Orpic’s parent group, Oman Oil Company (OOC), owns a 10 per cent stake in CLH.