Purple patch for Muscat’s chemicals ambition
The commissioning of Oman’s largest petrochemicals plant has coincided with Saudi Arabia’s potential rescue of an even bigger one
December may go down as a seminal moment in Oman’s long-held ambitions to create a world-scale petrochemicals industry. The government’s flagship $7bn Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) was belatedly inaugurated by state-owned OQ at the northern industrial city of Sohar—the sultanate’s traditional downstream centre—more than doubling national polymer capacity. Potentially more importantly, and certainly more unexpected, Saudi Arabian petchems behemoth Sabic formally agreed to consider taking over the role of foreign partner on a faltering project to integrate an even larger petrochemicals facility with the greenfield refinery under construction at Duqm, a fledgling economic hub on Oman’

Also in this section
28 November 2023
Countries such as Pakistan will require fossil fuels for a long time to come, requiring a reframing of the narrative around the energy transition
28 November 2023
Rising LNG demand and supply risks are outpacing shipping logistics amid Panama and newbuild challenges
27 November 2023
The major’s acquisition deal could keep oil production in the mature play going for longer
27 November 2023
Fresh opposition from the US looks likely to be the final nail in the coffin for the long-delayed Iran-Pakistan connection