OMAN Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries (Orpic) will soon float a tender for the Phase One construction of a major fuel pipeline in the sultanate.

The 280-km Muscat-Sohar Pipeline Project (MSFP), which will supply fuel from Sohar refinery to Muscat, is a part of a portfolio of strategic ventures being implemented by Orpic, the sultanate’s refining and petrochemicals flagship.

The project will help dramatically cut the volume of fuel truck traffic supplying the capital city. It is designed to increase the storage capacity for diesel and petrol and connect the current storage facilities in Sohar and Mina Al Fahal refineries to cope with the ever growing fuel demand.

Tenders of the EPC (engineering-procurement-construction) contract for the first phase, covering the section from Mina Al Fahal refinery to Muscat International Airport, are expected soon, said Musab Al Mahrouqi, CEO, Orpic, adding that work will start by the first quarter of 2014.

The fuel pipeline connecting Orpic’s Muscat and Sohar refineries is being implemented in phases. While Phase One is due to be tendered out shortly, Phase Two centres on the construction of a pipeline from Sohar refinery to a new terminal at Al Jifnain, near Muscat, as well as the terminal itself.

Envisaged in Phase Three is the construction of additional fuel storage capacity to serve as strategic reserves for the nation.

Spanish engineering firm Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos (CLH) is providing consultancy services to Orpic in the implementation of the project, which is slated for commissioning in 2016.

“We estimate the investments in capital projects over the next five years to be around $5 billion to $6 billion. That’s including investment in the Sohar Refinery improvement project, the Liwa Plastics project, and the Muscat-Sohar Pipeline project,” said Mahrouqi.

Notable is the $1.8-billion Sohar refinery improvement project that will see the country’s largest refinery upgraded and expanded.