Oman has awarded a British-based company the contract for the front-end engineering design (Feed) of the massive Ras Markaz Crude Oil Park Project planned on the sultanate’s Wusta coast, a report said.

The contract has been signed by London-headquartered Amec Foster Wheeler and Oman Tank Terminal Company (OTTCO), a joint venture between Oman Oil Company and its investment subsidiary, Takamul Investment Company, added the report in Oman Daily Observer.

The mammoth facility will be designed to hold around 200 million barrels of crude oil, according to the report, which highlighted that it will serve as an alternative to Oman’s only crude export terminal at Mina Al Fahal in Muscat.

The first phase of the project, which is expected to be operational by 2018, will have a capacity of around 25 million barrels, the report said.

“We have an excellent and long-standing reputation in Oman and are already working on other key investments in the country. We are delighted to be part of this strategic project,” Roberto Penno, Amec Foster Wheeler Group president for Asia, Middle East, Africa & Southern Europe, was quoted as saying in the report.