Six companies have submitted bids for the contract to build an ammonia plant in Salalah.

Salalah Methanol Company (SMC) is planning to build a 1,000 tonne-a-day (t/d) plant in the Salalah Free Zone, with storage facilities, export loading facilities and additional utilities.

Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) proposals were submitted on 5 May. The following companies submitted proposals:

• CTCI Corporation (Taiwan)
• GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Hanwha Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Larsen & Toubro (India)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• SNC Lavalin (Canada)

The contract was tendered earlier this year.

The company will use rich hydrogen purge gas from its adjacent 3,000-t/d methanol plant as feedstock to produce ammonia in the new facility. Ammonia is mainly used to make nitrogen-based fertilisers, cleaning chemicals and for fermentation.

The front-end engineering and design (feed) study for the project was carried out by Germany’s Linde.

SMC is co-owned by state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Takamul Investment Company. The latter company is 93 per cent owned by OOC.