Oman plans $210 million gas pipe for new town

Oman plans to build a 230-kilometer long pipeline to carry gas to the new industrial city of Duqm on the coast of the Gulf Arab state, a project official said on Monday. "We are floating a tender for the bids of building the gas pipeline to Duqm," Yahya Al-Zadjali, head of planning of the Duqm Special Economic Zone, told delegates at a conference in the Omani capital Muscat. "We hope the project to be completed in 2017 to fuel industrial projects in the new industrial area." Al Zadjali did not say how much the pipeline would cost but an official at the Oman Tender Board told Reuters the pipeline would cost about 200-220 million US dollars to build. The gas will be supplied by state-run Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) from one of its largest gas fields in central Oman. Oman wants to turn the once sleepy fishing village of Duqm into its second industrial centre after Sohar in a bid to diversify its oil export dependent economy. Oman produces around 880,000 bpd of crude oil and about 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, but rapidly rising industrial demand in the country limits the non-member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil and gas producer's exports. Duqm will be home to a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) oil refinery and a petrochemical plant.