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OQ allows more time for natural gas liquids project proposals

10 April 2026

 

Omani state energy conglomerate OQ Group has allowed contractors more time to prepare proposals for a major project to build a natural gas liquids (NGL) facility in the sultanate.

The planned NGL facility will extract condensates in Saih Nihayda in central Oman and transport those volumes to Duqm, located along the sultanate’s Arabian Sea coastline, for fractionation and export, OQ Group has said.

OQ Group intends to deliver the project using a front-end engineering and design (feed)-to-engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) competition model.

The state enterprise issued the main tender for the feed-to-EPC competition “earlier in March”, setting an initial deadline of 8 April for contractors to submit proposals, MEED previously reported. The deadline has now been extended to 6 May, according to sources.

MEED previously reported that OQ had started the prequalification process for the feed-to-EPC contest for the planned NGL project in November last year, with contractors submitting responses by 15 December.

The following contractors, among others, are understood to have been invited to participate in the feed-to-EPC contest for OQ’s planned NGL project, sources told MEED:

  • Chiyoda (Japan) / CTCI (Taiwan)
  • G S Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea) / KBR (US)
  • JGC Corporation (Japan)
  • Kent (UAE)
  • Petrofac (UK)
  • Saipem (Italy)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea) / Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India) / Wood (UAE)
  • Technip Energies (France)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
  • Tecnimont (Italy)

The scope of work on the project covers the development, verification and integration of feed deliverables for the following facilities and systems:

  • NGL extraction facility – Saih Nihayda:
    • Verification and updating of the existing feed to enable dual-mode operation (ethane recovery and ethane rejection).
    • Identification and implementation of required process, equipment, utilities, and control system modifications.
       
  • NGL Pipeline – Saih Nihayda to Duqm:
    Feed for a new approximately 230km NGL transmission pipeline, including routing, hydraulics, stations, pigging facilities, metering, corrosion protection, leak detection, and safety systems.
     
  • Fractionation unit at Duqm:
    • Feed for a new fractionation facility to process ethane and propane + NGL and recover propane, butane, condensate, and provision for future ethane recovery.
    • Design accommodating licensed or open-art technology and future tie-in to a planned petrochemical project in Duqm.
       
  • Product pipelines, storage and export facilities at Duqm jetty:
    • Feed for product pipelines, cryogenic and atmospheric storage tanks, vapour recovery systems, marine loading arms, and export facilities.
    • Integration with existing port and refinery infrastructure, where feasible.
       
  • Supporting systems and studies:
    Utilities, offsites, flare systems, safety and environmental studies, cost estimates (class 2+10%), project schedules, constructability assessments, and EPC tender documentation.
Natural gas liquids projects

Gulf national oil companies have been allocating significant capital expenditure to building or expanding NGL production facilities.

QatarEnergy, in September last year, awarded the main EPC contract for its project to add a fifth NGL train at its fractionation complex in Qatar’s Mesaieed Industrial City. The aim of the project, which is estimated to be worth $2.5bn, is to build a fifth NGL train (NGL-5) with the capacity to process up to 350 million cubic feet a day of rich associated gas from QatarEnergy’s offshore and onshore oil fields.

The main EPC contract for the QatarEnergy NGL-5 project was won by a consortium of India’s Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbons Onshore and Greece-headquartered Consolidated Contractors Group.

Separately, the gas processing business of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Gas) has also selected the main contractor for a project to install a fifth NGL fractionation train at its Ruwais gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi.

The fifth NGL fractionation train will have an output capacity of 22,000 tonnes a day, or about 8 million tonnes a year.

The Ruwais NGL Train 5 project represents the second phase of Adnoc Gas’ ambitious Rich Gas Development (RGD) programme, and its budget value is estimated to be around $4bn, Peter Van Driel, Adnoc Gas’ chief financial officer, confirmed in February. The company expects to achieve final investment decision on the project within the first quarter of 2026, Van Driel said at the time.

ALSO READ: PDO awards Oman gas plant expansion project
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Indrajit Sen

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