Oman Oil Company (OOC) has secured a partnership agreement with Gulf Energy Development Public Company to develop a gas-fired power and water project at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm.

The proposed Duqm independent water and power project (IWPP) will have a power generation capacity of 326MW and a desalination capacity of eight million imperial gallons a day (MIGD). The project will require a total investment of $483m.

OOC subsidiaries will hold a 55 per cent equity interest in the plant, with the Thai utility holding the remaining 45 per cent. Representing OOC’s interests in the project company are the Centralised Utilities Company (Marafiq) and Oman Oil Facilities Development Company (OOFDC), holding stakes in the project company of of 51.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

The offtaker for the produced utilities will be the Duqm refinery, which is being developed for a total cost of about $7bn. OOC is a 50 per cent shareholder in the 230,000 barrels-a-day refinery, with Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) holding the other 50 per cent.