Oman will build a major oil storage terminal on its southeastern coast, spending between US$300mn and US$400mn on the first phase, minister of oil and gas Mohammad bin Hamad al-Rumhy said
It will be built by a subsidiary of state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC) at Ras Markaz, about 70km from Duqm, where the government is developing a port and industrial zone, Rumhy added without giving a timeline.
“OOC will continue to develop the project and increase the number of tanks, according to the level of demand in the oil storage market. Our ambition for Ras Markaz is to be one of the largest oil storage hubs worldwide,” Rumhy noted.
In its first phase, the storage facility will have a capacity of between six million and 10mn barrels of oil and serve an oil refinery planned for Duqm. Capacity could be expanded to as much as 200mn barrels.
According to Reuters, low oil prices have strained Oman’s state finances and made it harder to fund big infrastructure projects. Rumhy said that the terminal would not be financed by the state but through borrowing from banks, including international.
Ras Markaz is on the Arabian Sea near major shipping routes through the Red Sea to Asia and Africa, and lies outside the Strait of Hormuz.
