The Saipem/CCC venture was the second lowest bidder for the pipeline contract, behind a team of Russia's Stroytransgazand the local Bahwan Engineering Company, when prices were opened in early May. However, the winning consortium scored highly on its technical proposal.

The contract covers the supply and installation of a 24-inch-diameter, 260-kilometre-long pipeline to transport crude oil and naphtha from Mina al-Fahal to Sohar, where it will feed the 116,000-barrel-a-day refinery currently under construction. The front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor was ILF & Partners Oman, a subsidiary of Germany's ILF Partners.

The pipeline will tie into the Sohar PRT, for which Arabian Industries was low bidder at RO 4.4 million ($11.3 million) for the EPC contract's basic option. However, the total value of the contract is likely to be in the region of RO 7 million ($18 million). Negotiations are ongoing with OGC as to which of the options in the original tender are to be included in the scope of works.

The PRT will channel about 21 million cubic metres a day of gas from the mixed feedstock Mina al-Fahal pipeline to the various industries planned at Sohar, with initial plans calling for supply to the refinery, currently under construction, and the fertiliser plant of the Suhail Bahwan Group. However, the design will also allow for supply to other ventures in the industrial area, including the aluminium smelter and methanol plant.

www.meed.com/oilgas