Air Liquide inks pact with Orpic

By Business Reporter — MUSCAT: APRIL 8 - Air Liquide, a world leader in gases and related technologies, has signed a long-term agreement with Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic), Oman’s national refining company, for the supply of nitrogen to the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) at Sohar Port. Investing around €20 million to build a state-of-the-art nitrogen production unit with a total capacity of 500 tonnes of nitrogen per day, Air Liquide will strengthen its leadership position in a key industrial area to support the growth of its customer Orpic.

Expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2019, the new nitrogen plant, along with the expansion of Air Liquide’s existing pipeline network, will supply nitrogen for the customer’s plastics production complex expanding to a capacity of polyethylene and polypropylene of 1.4 million tonnes per year. Those plastics components are needed for many applications in derived products from petroleums such as packaging industries as well as other industrial applications.

The nitrogen production unit will be designed and built by Air Liquide’s Engineering and Construction teams using cutting edge technologies and bringing its world-class expertise. It will be owned and operated by Air Liquide Sohar Industrial Gases Company. Christiaan van der Wouden, Chief Operating Officer of Orpic, said: “Orpic is pleased to expand its collaboration with Air Liquide and to secure the highest competitive, reliable and safe supply of nitrogen to the Liwa plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project, which is critical to the development of a downstream plastics industry in Oman.”