Muscat: Oman Oil Company has signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Salalah Methanol Company (SMC) with GS Engineering and Construction Company (GS E&C).
The agreement for SMC, a state-of-the art methanol production facility to be set up in Salalah Free Zone, was signed by Maqbool Bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of Oman Oil Company on Monday.
Also present was Sang-Ryong Woo, Chief Executive Officer and President of GS Engineering and Construction Company signed on behalf of the Korean company.
"We are proud to develop our latest project in Salalah Free Zone, which comes in line with the government's strategy to diversify the economy. The project will not only enhance the future downstream methanol based industries but will also provide training and job opportunities for Omanis," said Maqbool in a statement.
Salalah Methanol, which is wholly owned by Oman Oil Company and formed in February 2006, has been set up to own, operate and maintain the plant.
Commercial operations are scheduled to commence in the first half of 2010.
Intermediary chemical
The total project cost is approximately 350 million Omani riyals and it is designed to produce 3,000 metric tonnes of methanol a day. Methanol is an intermediary chemical feedstock which is used in manufacturing other chemicals and end-products such as various forms of formaldehyde, acetic acid, MTBE and other industries producing plastic materials.
