State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co (ORPIC) said it had finalised negotiations with preferred bidders for $4.5 billion worth of contracts to build a major plastics complex in the sultanate.

The four engineering, procurement and contracting packages will be completed in four years, with plants to be commissioned in 2019, ORPIC said in a statement on Wednesday.

A joint venture of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co of the United States and Taiwan's CTCI will be awarded the contract for a steam cracker and utilities, ORPIC said. In a separate statement, Chicago Bridge & Iron said that contract would be worth about $2.8 billion.

Italy's Tecnimont will win a contract for plastics units, South Korea's GS Engineering and Construction and Japan's Mitsui & Co a contract for natural gas liquids extraction facilities, and India's Punj Lloyd a contract for a pipelime, ORPIC said.

The Liwa Plastics Project, being built in Oman's northern port city of Sohar, is a big part of the sultanate's effort to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. It is designed to enable Oman to produce polyethylene for the first time, and to increase its output of polypropylene.

ORPIC chief executive Musab al-Mahruqi said he expected to sign the contracts and financing deals by the end of this year.

"We are concluding discussions with export credit agencies, commercial banks and other relevant authorities and we expect to finalise the project funding plan by the end of the year, enabling us to award the respective EPC contracts."

Previously, ORPIC said it would borrow money to finance 70 percent of construction of the complex, while the remaining 30 percent would come in the form of equity from the company.

 

reuters.com

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