Oman has invited companies to express interest in prequalifying for the first phase of the Ras Markaz oil storage terminal in Al-Wusta province.

Project owner Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO) asked engineering procurement and construction (EPC) companies to submit a letter of interest by 29 June.

The Ras Markaz project involves the development of a terminal with a capacity to hold 200 million barrels of crude oil. The first phase of the project, including onshore and offshore scope, is planned to be on stream by the end of 2018.

The terminal, to be located 70 kilometres south of the Port of Duqm, will be connected via a new 440km-pipeline to a crude pipeline from Oman’s main onshore oil fields. The pipeline is also in the feed phase.

The front-end engineering and design (feed) study was awarded to Amec Foster Wheeler, the UK-based engineering company announced in January 2015.

Ras Markaz was initially planned to be completed by 2017, according to previous announcements by OTTCO management.

OTTCO is a joint venture of state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Takamul Investment Company.

The developer has asked for a fee of OR3,000 or $7,800 for the prequalification documents.