Oman is expected to issue a tender for a bulk liquid terminal at the Port of Duqm within a month, a report said.

The $1-billion project is a key component of the infrastructure being developed by the Oman government to support a major refinery, reported Times of Oman.

“More than 2 km of the quay wall is for the liquid berth to serve the refinery. We expect that it (the tender) will be awarded in the coming one month or so. It is in the final stages,” Reggy Vermeulen, chief executive officer of the Port of Duqm was quoted as saying in the report.

He said work on the liquid berth will take two-and-a-half years to complete. “If the project is awarded in the first quarter of 2017, it will be completed by the end of 2019. Since the refinery will be fully dependent on the liquid berth, its construction has to be in line with the berth,” he added.

The winning engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor will carry out dredging and reclamation, jetty structure and topside facilities including product storage tanks, dry bulk facilities, pipelines, buildings and roads, the report said.

Vermeulen also said that most of the packages for completing Duqm port have already been awarded. These contracts include gates, superstructure, remaining work at terminals, buildings for the port and dredging works.

 “The contracting firms are already working on the ground. This shows that now we have a firm date, end of 2019, for completing the entire work for full-fledged operation (Phase One) of the port,” said Vermeulen.