The project aims to establish Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub, which will supply LNG as a fuel to marine vessels

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Image: The Sohar LNG Bunkering Project will establish Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub. Photo courtesy of Carlo San/Freeimages.com

Total Oman E&P Development, in partnership with Oman Oil Company, has awarded a contract to McDermott to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Sohar LNG Bunkering Project in Oman.

The Sohar LNG Bunkering Project aims to establish Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub, which will supply LNG as a fuel to marine vessels.

McDermott said in a statement: “The global LNG bunkering market is entering a rapid growth period driven largely by the International Maritime Organization’s legislation to significantly limit sulphur emissions.”

Under the contract, McDermott will be responsible for fully defining the onshore mid-scale LNG facilities and preparing a competitive tender for the engineering, procurement, supply, construction and commissioning phase.

The project aims to establish Oman as a regional LNG bunkering hub

McDermott Middle East and North Africa senior vice-president Linh Austin said: “This award is a reflection of McDermott’s 60-year history of delivering innovative LNG solutions worldwide, beginning with our tank storage solutions in the 1950s, to our liquefaction capabilities today.”

Work on the project is scheduled to commence immediately. Financial terms of the contract undisclosed.

In May 2018, Total signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Omani government to develop natural gas resources in the country.

The natural gas discoveries that will be developed by Total and Shell are contained in Block 6. Shell will be the operator with a stake of 75% while Total will hold the remaining stake of 25% in the proposed Omani gas project.

As part of the plan, Total intends to utilise its share of the gas project’s output as feedstock to develop a regional hub for LNG bunkering service in Oman.

At that time, Total indicated that its plans were being backed by a new small-scale modular liquefaction plant which will be constructed in Sohar port.

The new liquefaction plant was expected to feature a train of about 1Mt per year and will provide the flexibility for expansion as needed by the development of the LNG bunkering market, said the company.