Orpic to invest $3.6 billion in massive Oman plastics project

Middle Eastern petrochemical giant Orpic has announced plans to invest approximately US$3.6 billion in the development of a massive petrochemicals scheme that will form the cornerstone of an ambitious downstream plastics-based industry in the Middle East state of Oman.

Speaking at the recent Polyolefin Plastics Arabia Conference, Orpic CEO Musab al Mahrouqi said the Sohar Plastics Project, together with the soon-to-commence Sohar Refinery Improvement Project, will produce most of the key petrochemical ingredients that constitute the essential building blocks of a future plastics industry in the Sultanate.

When completed by 2018, Al Mahrouqi said, the Sohar Plastics Project together with the refinery improvement venture, will produce one of the most efficient integrated refinery and petrochemical complexes in the world.

When operational in 2018, the Sohar Plastics Project will produce 420,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of high density polyethylene (HDPE), 420,000 tpa of low density polyethylene (LDPE), 215,000 tpa of polypropylene, 168,000 tpd of additional gasoline, and 46,000 tpa of additional benzene. These petrochemicals, together with those produced by existing Orpic plants, will account for six of the seven principal building blocks necessary to sustain the growth of a strong downstream petrochemicals industry in Oman, Al Mahrouqi said.