The government of Oman plans to integrate two domestic state-run companies, namely Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Oman Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (ORPIC), to create one large refining and trading firm. Companies are expected to merge their respective downstream businesses as the first stage of the merging process. The detailed process will be worked out shortly and shall be outlined over the coming months.
ORPIC owns and operate two refineries in Oman, namely Mina Al Fahal (106,000 bbl/d, near Muscat) and Suhar (116,000 bbl/d also spelled Sohar), which were built in 1982 and 2006, respectively. OOC owns a 26% stake in Bharat Oman Refineries that owns and operates the 120,000 bbl/d Bina refinery in India and 7% in Hungary’s oil producer and refiner MOL Group (162,000 bbl/d Szazhalombatta refinery in Hungary). The group also plans to build the 230,000 bbl/d Duqm refinery project in Oman, under the framework of a joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI).