Muscat - As many as six international companies have submitted financial offers for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co's (Orpic) Sohar Refinery expansion project, with South Korean firms dominating the list of contenders.
The tender for the EPC contract was opened at the Tender Board on Sunday, the last date for submitting commercial bids. The tender was floated in December 2012 following a pre-qualification process. Around 50 companies had applied for pre-qualification in December 2011 and only nine pre-qualified in August 2012.
Among the companies that have submitted financial bids are: The joint venture (JV) of South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction and Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro; JV of South Korea's Daelim Industrial Co and London-based Petrofac; JV of Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Engineering Co; South Korean firm S K Engineering and Construction; JV of Samsung Engineering Co Ltd and Japanese engineering corporation Chiyoda; and Tecnicas Reunidas SA, a leading Spanish engineering firm. Samsung Engineering is the lowest bidder at RO727.7mn, followed by GS Engineering, that submitted an offer for RO819.2mn. Daelim Industrial submitted an offer for RO829.6mn, S K Engineering for RO856.3mn and Hyundai Engineering for RO866.6mn. Tecnicas Reunidas was the highest bidder, at RO1.11bn.
The expansion project would improve the Sohar refinery's product quality and increase refining capacity by more than 70 per cent - to add another 60,000 barrels per day of oil. The expansion, which was earlier estimated to cost between US$1.5-US$1.8bn, is expected to be completed by the first half of 2016.
The project will be implemented at the Sohar Industrial Port to complement the existing refinery, which was commissioned in 2006.
Meanwhile, another tender for the procurement of long-lead items for the Sohar Refinery project was also opened on Sunday. As many as 14 international companies have submitted offers. The tender was floated in December 2012.
© Muscat Daily 2013
