Jacobus Nieuwenhuijze, the official in charge of the construction of the planned Duqm refinery announced that the project should be completed by the end of 2019.

“Construction work will complete in fourth quarter of 2019,” stated Nieuwenhuijze about the refinery with is expected to have the ability to process 230,000 barrels of crude oil every day.

The project director made his remarks during a ceremony which was held at Knowledge Oasis Muscat. An agreement was signed during the proceedings in which the Duqm Refinery will be allowed to use a designated 900-hectare area to make field studies, preparation and clearance so that the project can commence. The agreement was made with the chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (Sezad), and Eng Essam Al Zadjali, Duqm Refinery’s chairman and the chief executive officer of Oman Oil Company (OOC).

Chief executive of Sezad said that it is expected that the civil work can begin in either April or May of the coming year. After that the engineering, procurement and construction work will be able to go forward.