Oman-based Galfar Engineering & Contracting has been awarded the site preparation work for the proposed new refinery in Duqm on the sultanate’s central coast.  

Site preparation work is expected to start during the second quarter of 2015 and completion is set for the second quarter of 2016.

The work includes the excavation and compaction of more than 12 million cubic metres of soil and will lay the groundwork for the start of the refinery’s construction in 2016.

The refinery will have the capacity to process 230,000 barrels a day (b/d) of crude oil into the primary products of diesel, jet fuel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The company has yet to receive engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bids for the main refinery packages.  

Duqm Refinery is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Industries Company (Ipic) and Oman Oil Company (OOC).

The company has been rebranded from the previously-named Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Industries Company (DRPIC).

“Duqm Refinery will be one of the growth engines for the Special Economic Zone. It will provide development opportunities for new projects that will directly and indirectly interface with the refinery,” the company said when announcing the award to Galfar.