MUSCAT -- Sohar Port just got bigger again yesterday. Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of Sohar Port, signed with Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman al Khailifa, owner of the Mashael Group, an agreement worth over $200 million. It means that the first specialised bitumen refinery in the region will be completed by 2012 within the boundaries of the Sohar Port complex.
Bitumen being bulky and heavy is not transported worldwide. So Oman's aim is to be the market leader in the Gulf countries and India, a large market nevertheless bearing in mind the amount of road construction expected in the next decade in both target markets. At the signing ceremony, Bryan Chen, Executive Director of Al Mashael Group, told the Observer that comprehensive research was done throughout the region before choosing Oman as the best place for building the plant. This will of course mean more jobs for Omanis and expatriates alike, but as yet no estimates on the size of the labour force has been announced.
Another factor, he mentioned, was Sohar's strategic position outside the waters of the Inner Gulf, which means lower insurance rates for all vessels. He added that the well put together infrastructure of Sohar Industrial Port was a further important factor. The Mashael Group is already well diversified with a special focus on the oil and gas industry, and has offices in Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait and Malaysia.
A statement issued after the signing said that the new plant will use the latest technologies to provide a one stop bitumen supply centre with a capacity of 30,000 barrels a day, thus producing up to 1 million tonnes of bitumen a year with 20 per cent of the production being set aside for the Omani market. Jan Meijer, CEO of Sohar Industrial Port, said at the signing ceremony that the port was very happy to be signing this particular agreement despite the current diffiult financial situation.
He added, 'Since we started only six years ago in 2003, we have leased out 85 per cent of the port area and that is a very good indicator that we are going in the right direction. "The announcement of this new plant set for 2012 underlines the swift growth of Sohar Industrial Port into a complex structure of international businesses. This progress has been possible because of close co-operation between the two joint partners, the Sultanate of Oman and the Port of Rotterdam".
By Maurice Gent
© Oman Daily Observer 2009
