Contract awarded to Engelhard Corporation
MUSCAT -- Development of the $1.2 billion Sohar Refinery project has reached a critical phase with the loading of catalysts in the plant's Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (RFCCU). Yacoub Yousif Bilal, CEO of Sohar Refinery Company (SRC), described the catalyst loading as a "major milestone", representing the starting point of the operational phase of commissioning activities at the plant.
Bilal was speaking at a ceremony last Wednesday marking the formal award of a contract for the supply of RFCC catalysts to Engelhard Corporation of the US. Top officials of SRC, Engelhard Corporation, and its local agents Energy Machine Services LLC, attended the ceremony. Also present was Annelies Boogaerdt, Ambassador of The Netherlands to the Sultanate.
In remarks, Ambassador Boogaerdt described Sohar's emerging industrial and petrochemical hub as an example of the fruitful co-operation involving several nations of the world.
She also noted the tremendous job opportunities created by the industrial investments at Sohar.
Bruce Lerner, General Manager Process Technologies, Engelhard Corporation, hailed the development of the Sohar Refinery project as a benchmark for the regional refining industry. George Vann, Global Manager Additives Technology, said Engelhard viewed its contract with SRC as the start of a strategic partnership with a world-class refinery.
Mohammed al Kindy, Sohar Refinery's HR & Administration Director, as well as Ad Roetgering, Executive Manager Process Technology Engelhard, and Maarten van Vliet, Regional Business Manager Process Technology Engelhard, also spoke at the event.
Suresh B Nair, Managing Director of Energy Machine Services, described Engelhard Corporation as a leader in the process technology industry. Headquartered in New Jersey, the US, Engelhard is a Fortune 500 enterprise with a $4 billion annual turnover. The company is an established name in environmental, process, appearance and performance technologies.
Engelhard has been contracted to meet SRC's requirement of catalysts and additives necessary for the cracking of residual fluids. The refinery's daily consumption of RFCC catalysts is estimated at around 20 tonnes per day. The catalyst, bagged in 1-tonne bags and containerised in 40-foot containers, is shipped from Engelhard's plant at Savannah, Georgia to Oman via Jebel Ali. With the SRC contract, Engelhard now controls around 40 per cent of the worldwide RFCC catalyst market.
The award ceremony, which was held at the Muscat InterContinental Hotel, was also attended by Eugenio Macaluso and Stefano Riva, Process Technology Sales Managers Engelhard Corporation; Chil Nam Son, SRC Refinery Director; Pil-Hong Oh, SRC General Manager Operations; and Ahmed bin Ali al Aufi, SRC Deputy Commissioning Manager.
By Staff Reporter
© Oman Daily Observer 2006
