Oman Gas Company (OGC) is preparing to tender the front-end engineering and design (feed) phase of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) extraction plant in Salalah in the south of the sultanate.

The feasibility study for the estimated $300m project has been completed by UK-based Mott MacDonald and OGC is expected to float the feed during November.

Mott Macdonald was hired for consultancy services after OGC cancelled its initial contract with Brazilian engineering group Tecna.

The initial scope of the project included an extraction plant, cryogenic storage and fractionation facilities, auxiliary services and ship-loading facilities.

The planned plant capacity was between seven and 10 million cubic metres a day (cm/d).

OGC is also preparing to start construction a gas loop line project to meet increasing demand for gas in the Dhofar governorate. The 85-kilometre loop line will complement the Nimr gas-pumping scheme, which has increased the volumes of gas pumped to chemical and industrial plants around Salalah.

Muscat-based Gulf Petrochemical Services & Trading (GPS) has emerged as the frontrunner to win commercial engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on the scheme.