Oman integrates key state energy companies

20 November 2018
Merger of Oman Oil Company and Orpic amounts to a major restructuring of Sultanate’s energy operations

Oman is going to merge its state energy entity Oman Oil Company (OOC) and its downstream-focused firm Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) in a major integration of its energy operations.

Musab Abdullah al-Mahruqi will lead the combined company as chief executive officer from 2 December, both firms announced via Twitter on 18 November.

Reuters had in May reported that Oman’s government was working with consultancy firm McKinsey & Co to integrate its refining and petrochemical companies into one combined unit to achieve greater efficiency in its energy sector.

The merged company will have combined stakes in about 1.1 million barrels a day (b/d) of refining capacity in Oman, India and Hungary.

OOC is involved in a 50:50 joint venture to develop the $7bn Duqm Refinery on the Sultanate’s central coastline. The estimated $7bn project will have a refining capacity of 230,000 b/d when completed in 2022.

Orpic operates two refineries, a polypropylene plant, and an aromatics plant in the Sultanate. The two refineries, at Mina al-Fahal in Muscat and Sohar, have a combined production capacity of 222,000 b/d.

"The shareholders of both companies [the government of Oman] had agreed earlier to the proposal of integrating the downstream businesses of both companies, as phase one of the integration initiative... integration shall be implemented over several phases, taking into consideration the specifics of each business," Orpic said in its tweeted statement.

‘The detailed integration process will be worked out and communicated over the coming months’, it said.

According to the statement, CEO-in-waiting Al-Mahruqi has served as Orpic’s CEO between 2010 and 2016. Prior to that he also worked with OOC from 2003 to 2010, being appointed as the chief investment officer in 2008.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.