OQ8 is Duqm Refinery’s new brand

Strengthening bond: The new logo represents the close relationship between the two countries and the inherent brotherhood between Oman and Kuwait

BUSINESS REPORTER -

MUSCAT, JAN 20

Oman’s OQ and Kuwait Petroleum International (Q8) announced on Wednesday the official unveiling of OQ8, the new brand for the Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries.

Duqm Refinery, a mega-project refinery, petrochemical plant and pipeline, is a joint venture between OQ of Oman and Q8 (Kuwait International Petroleum Company), owned by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

The joint venture aims to build a world-class refinery using proven technology to provide high-quality products that are in line with international safety standards and efficiency levels. Duqm Refinery is located in the heart of the Special Economic Zone in the Wilayat of Duqm, Al Wusta Governorate, and overlooks the Arabian Sea.

The design of the refinery, which has a capacity 230,000 barrels per day, is based on the Hydrogen Cracking Unit (HCR) and the Delayed Coker Unit (DCU).

The Refinery has the capability to process all types of oil. Upon operation, the Refinery will produce liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha, jet fuel, diesel, sulphur and coke.

The new logo represents the close relationship between the two countries and the inherent brotherhood between the two nations. The pair of colours tells a much greater story.

Centuries before Oman and Kuwait embarked on the OQ8 project, the duo already shared a long history of maritime trade. From small, early sailing vessels, the two enjoyed their earliest cooperation, exchanging goods and getting to know each other across the seas.

In those early days, shallower, turquoise waters would have meant safety.

As trust between the two grew, both were able to venture into deeper waters, to seek larger, more diverse markets.

Today, as great ships prepare to sail forth from OQ8 in the emerging global energy hub of Duqm to carry products to markets around the world, they will begin their journey in the turquoise waters of the Arabian Sea, eventually reach the deep blue of the Indian Ocean, as they head towards their ultimate destination.

During the construction phase of the refinery, the project involved the local community in a number of introductory meetings about the impact the project will have in particular. They were also introduced to the efforts made by the OQ8 to bring many benefits to the local community.

For this purpose, several social investment initiatives and programmes were launched to raise community members skills and enhance their competencies to take advantage of the available opportunities in Duqm.

“The consistency between Q8 and OQ strategies in managing the Duqm Refinery Project is a strong evidence on the collaboration of our efforts to achieve development and growth for our nations.

“Since the launch of this project, we have seen the constant growth and development of Duqm Economic Zone and being one of the key industrial hubs in the Gulf region. Such partnership will ensure us a safe channel for exporting the Kuwaiti oil besides creating considerable number of job opportunities for Omani and Kuwaiti youth.”

The company is expected to attract talents and play a role in preparing future leaders in both countries, said

Shaikh Nawaf Saud al Nasser al Sabah, CEO of Kuwait International Petroleum and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company.

“Despite the tough economic conditions ripping the world markets, we will spare no efforts to turn our aspirations into reality and become a model success stories for everyone’’, he added.

Commenting on the launch of the new brand, Eng Ahmed bin Saleh al Jahdhami, CEO — Refineries and Petrochemicals in OQ and Deputy Chairman of board of Directors of OQ8, said: “Our synergy in OQ and Q8 and successful strategy can be referred to united visions of the leaderships of the two countries to achieve maximum benefits which will return back to the people of the two countries.

The project has the attention and support from the leaderships of the two countries and the groundbreaking event of the project was under the patronage of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in April 2018.

This puts more responsibility on us to overcome all challenges to achieve the success of this strategic partnership.

Due to the strategic location of Duqm and its easy access to international markets, we in OQ believe on the promising future of Duqm to attract more petrochemical projects which will create more job opportunities and businesses in the future.”

He further added: “The Special Economic Zone of Duqm is of high importance to us for its strategic location in the East Coast of the Sultanate that will link international maritime routes and provide quick access to international markets.

In OQ we believe that Duqm has a promising future and we look forward to enter international partnerships to focus on petrochemical projects to further enhance the development in the Sultanate.”

Christian van der Wouden, Acting CEO of the project, said: “The brand identities of the two companies, OQ and Q8, are in harmony to build an identity that inspires our employees to work as one team to achieve our corporate objectives.

We are working to establish a strong corporate identity that inspires our employees and makes them feel proud and loyal to this world class project that will be built according to the highest quality and safety standards to achieve the aspired outcome.”