Front-end engineering design (Feed) of Oman's state-of-the-art Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) is likely to be finalised in April and the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work packages are likely to be awarded in the last quarter of 2015.

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic), the project developer, has already finalised the pre-qualification process for the EPC work packages and the next step of the project is releasing a tender invitation for the qualified companies, said a company statement (see pre-qualified contractors' list below).

The $3.6-billion project will capitalise on the synergies with the existing refinery and the growing global market for plastics, the company said.

The project will be executed through four EPC packages which include a steam cracker and polymer units, a natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction unit and a NGL pipeline from Fahud to Sohar.

“This process is a key milestone to our project and all the contractors were required to demonstrate their knowhow on projects with similar size, nature and complexity, along with their international experience with the generation of in-country value considering the legacy that we want to create to Oman,” said Henk Pauw, the general manager responsible for the project.

The Liwa Plastics Industries Complex will enable Oman, for the first time, to produce polyethylene, the form of plastic that is rated highest in terms of global demand.

Once LPIC starts operation, the plastic production in the sultanate will increase by one million tonnes, giving Orpic a total of 1.4 million tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene production by 2018.

The statement said the EPC contractors will supply all the equipment and materials required for the implementation of the project based on an approved ‘vendor list’. Interested suppliers shall contact the EPC qualified contractors for registration, it said.

As part of Orpic’s commitment to support the local companies, it has invited all companies to register at Oman’s Joint Supplier Registration System (JSRS). The registration can be done through the website www.businessgateways.com under the category “Manufacturers in Oil & Gas Sector”. Suppliers will then become eligible to be added to the ‘vendors list’ subject to a pre-qualification process that will be done by the EPC contractors.

Pre-qualified contractors for the EPC packages are:
Steam cracker unit: Joint venture (JV) of CB&I Nederland / Saipem Spa / CTCI Corporation
* JV of Daelim Industrial Co / Petrofac International 
* Hanwha E&C Corporation
* JV of Toyo Engineering Corporation / GS Engineering & Construction Corp
Polymer units:
* Daelim Industrial Company.
* JV of GS Engineering & Construction Corp / Mitsui & Co.
* JV Linde Engineering Dresden / ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions
* JV of Saipem / Sinopec Engineering (Group)
* Tecnimont   
NGL extraction unit:
* Bechtel 
* JV of GS Engineering & Construction Corp/ Mitsui & Co
* Petrofac International 
* Saipem
* JV of SK Engineering & Construction  / Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering

NGL pipeline:
* Bechtel 
* Dodsal Engineering & Construction
* Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering
* Punj Lloyd 
* Saipem