Oman Oil Company SAOC (OOC) and the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company have reached an agreement to jointly develop a planned methanol project in the Salalah Port Free Zone. The accession agreement for Mubadala Development’s participation as a shareholder was signed earlier this week on behalf of OOC by Ahmed bin Salim al Wahaibi, its Chief Executive Officer and Maurizio La Noce, Director of Energy and Utilities of Mubadala Development Company.
Subject to final sanction, the project will entail the development, construction and operation of a 3,000 metric tons per day of methanol plant, using natural gas, supplied by Ministry of Oil and Gas through Oman Gas Company, as feedstock.
According to ONA, OOC AND Mubadala currently engage in laying down an ambitious development plan to achieve financial close by the middle of next year. Completion of the project is projected in late 2008. Methanol is used as fuel additive and in timber industries.
Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C. (OOC) is a commercial company 100 % owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman. The company was created in 1992 to give the Government another vehicle for pursuing investment opportunities in the energy sector both inside and outside Oman.
In Oman, OOC has interest in numerous projects that are either in operation, under construction or under development. These include gas transmission, petroleum retailing, refining, petrochemicals and aluminum smelting.
Mubadala is a development and investment company wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. Its existing investments include a 51% majority stake in Dolphin Energy, the developer of the Dolphin Gas Project, which involves the creation of the first cross-border gas network in the GCC through the import of Qatari natural gas for the markets of the UAE and Oman, and interest in nine new exploration blocks in Libya.
