NINE international engineering companies have been shortlisted for a $1.2-billion contract for the expansion of Oman’s flagship refinery at Sohar.

Technip, the France-based provider of project management, engineering, and construction services for the oil and gas industry; TecnicasReunidas (TR), a leading Spanish engineering firm specialising in industrial plants; Korean construction conglomerate Hyundai Engineering; and the joint venture of Indian engineering giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and GS Engineering of South Korea are some of the companies, who are vying for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

Also in the fray is a partnership of Petrofac, the London-headquartered international provider of integrated facilities services to the hydrocarbon and petrochemical industries, and South Korean engineering and construction conglomerate Daelim. Fellow Korean engineering corporation Daewoo has teamed up with global petrochemicals firm Lurgi to bid for the contract.

Other contenders include Japanese engineering corporation Chiyoda with Seoul-based industrial contractor Samsung Engineering, Korean firm SK Engineering and Japanese industrial contractor JGC.

The upgrade will increase the refinery’s capacity by 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) from its present processing capacity of around 116,000 bpd of crude and long residue.

Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic), a wholly government-owned integrated refining and petrochemicals entity is overseeing the expansion, which is estimated to cost between $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion. Orpic manages Oman’s refineries at Sohar and Mina Fahal as well as the aromatics and polypropylene plants in Sohar.