25 April 2011
SOHAR: Sohar Aluminium Company will proceed with its plan to double its present aluminium capacity of 370,000 tonnes per annum with an envisaged capital expenditure of $3 billion, if the government commits additional natural gas.
Addressing a visiting media delegation here yesterday, Henk Pauw, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the Ministry of Oil and Gas will take a final decision before November this year on whether gas will be available for the proposed capacity expansion. "We are optimistic.
It is not up to us... but the government has to decide. We have presented a very strong case for creating jobs with downstream industries," he noted. "If we get natural gas, the expansion project will be completed within three years."
Pauw added the British energy giant BP is in the process of determining the exact volume of gas they can get from block 61. "We need the gas out of block 61. If that is not met with success, there will not be enough gas for Oman. We need to approach Dolphin (Energy)."
He said Sohar Aluminium, which produces aluminium ingots and sows, will need 1 TCF of gas for the expansion, which is also equivalent to the current energy consumption of the plant.
Sohar Aluminium chief noted that the power generation capacity also needs to be doubled if the company proceeds with its plan to double capacity. The expansion will also create an additional 600 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect employment opportunities.
Presently, the company directly employs 1,039 workers, while another 1,624 are working for companies providing support services, export handling and downstream units. Further, another 2,265 workers are employed indirectly, taking the total employment opportunities in the entire chain to 4,928.
Pauw said his company's Omanisation target is 85 per cent by 2014, which is against 73 per cent by March 2011. The company needs to take an additional 300 local people for achieving the set target.
Saying that the company is committed to Omanisation, he noted that 733 out of 1,039 employees are Omanis. Of this, 623 Omani employees are from Al Batinah region.
He revealed that the average annual compounded growth in demand for aluminium in Middle East region is estimated at 6 per cent until 2020. With the current production of aluminium, around three to four plants of the size of Sohar Aluminium are needed to meet the world demand.
The projected aluminium demand in the region is 10 million tonnes per annum, which is against the present installed capacity of 4.2 million tonnes.
Sohar Aluminium is the first smelter in the world to implement Rio Tinto Alcan's benchmark AP36 smelting technology - the most energy efficient and productive smelting technology commercially available.
It is the most modern smelter in the world with the best technology available ensuring environmental protection
On the corporate social responsibility front, the company has committed 1.5 per cent of its shareholder's profits. This was around $1 million in 2010 and estimated at $1.725 million for 2011.
Government's investment arm Oman Oil Company and Abu Dhabi-based TAQA have a stake of 40 per cent each in Sohar Aluminium, while the remaining 20 per cent is held by Rio Tinto Alcan.
SOHAR: Sohar Aluminium Company will proceed with its plan to double its present aluminium capacity of 370,000 tonnes per annum with an envisaged capital expenditure of $3 billion, if the government commits additional natural gas.
Addressing a visiting media delegation here yesterday, Henk Pauw, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the Ministry of Oil and Gas will take a final decision before November this year on whether gas will be available for the proposed capacity expansion. "We are optimistic.
It is not up to us... but the government has to decide. We have presented a very strong case for creating jobs with downstream industries," he noted. "If we get natural gas, the expansion project will be completed within three years."
Pauw added the British energy giant BP is in the process of determining the exact volume of gas they can get from block 61. "We need the gas out of block 61. If that is not met with success, there will not be enough gas for Oman. We need to approach Dolphin (Energy)."
He said Sohar Aluminium, which produces aluminium ingots and sows, will need 1 TCF of gas for the expansion, which is also equivalent to the current energy consumption of the plant.
Sohar Aluminium chief noted that the power generation capacity also needs to be doubled if the company proceeds with its plan to double capacity. The expansion will also create an additional 600 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect employment opportunities.
Presently, the company directly employs 1,039 workers, while another 1,624 are working for companies providing support services, export handling and downstream units. Further, another 2,265 workers are employed indirectly, taking the total employment opportunities in the entire chain to 4,928.
Pauw said his company's Omanisation target is 85 per cent by 2014, which is against 73 per cent by March 2011. The company needs to take an additional 300 local people for achieving the set target.
Saying that the company is committed to Omanisation, he noted that 733 out of 1,039 employees are Omanis. Of this, 623 Omani employees are from Al Batinah region.
He revealed that the average annual compounded growth in demand for aluminium in Middle East region is estimated at 6 per cent until 2020. With the current production of aluminium, around three to four plants of the size of Sohar Aluminium are needed to meet the world demand.
The projected aluminium demand in the region is 10 million tonnes per annum, which is against the present installed capacity of 4.2 million tonnes.
Sohar Aluminium is the first smelter in the world to implement Rio Tinto Alcan's benchmark AP36 smelting technology - the most energy efficient and productive smelting technology commercially available.
It is the most modern smelter in the world with the best technology available ensuring environmental protection
On the corporate social responsibility front, the company has committed 1.5 per cent of its shareholder's profits. This was around $1 million in 2010 and estimated at $1.725 million for 2011.
Government's investment arm Oman Oil Company and Abu Dhabi-based TAQA have a stake of 40 per cent each in Sohar Aluminium, while the remaining 20 per cent is held by Rio Tinto Alcan.
© Times of Oman 2011
