State-owned Oman Oil Refineries & Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has signed more than 15 agreements to build, operate and finance the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC).

The contracts for the four engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) packages, which were signed on 17 December, were worth a total of $4.5bn:

• Steamcracker and utilities: CB&I (Netherlands-based) and CTCI Corporation (Taiwan) joint venture
• Plastics units: Technimont (Italy)
• Natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction: GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea) and Mitsui (Japan) joint venture
• NGL pipeline: Punj Lloyd (India)

Speaking at the signing event, which was held at Muscat Intercontinental Hotel, Orpic chairman Sultan bin Salim al-Habsi said, “This project will enhance the in-country value of products and will provide the necessary materials to grow a downstream sector in the sultanate, with a focus on the plastics industry. LPIC will also enhance the contribution of the industrial sector towards domestic production to 9 per cent by 2020 and will create more than 13,000 new employment opportunities for Omanis.”

More than 20 local and international banking and financial institutions and export credit agencies committed to provide $3.8bn.

The EPC contract awarded to Italy’s Maire Tecnimont is worth $895m. Its scope includes the realisation of a polyethylene plant and a polypropylene plant.

The steamcracker package contract awarded to the consortium of Netherlands-based CB&I and Taiwanese group CTCI is worth $2.8bn.