ESTABLISHED AS a limited liability company in 1982, Oman Refinery Company's (ORC) Mina Al Fahal refinery was commissioned with a refining capacity of 50,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Until then, all refined oil products sold in Oman had to be imported.

Consistent economic growth and increased demand for petroleum products in the Sultanate led to new challenges which prompted ORC to increase its process capacity to 80,000 bpd in 1987 through a low-cost plant modification.

Today, the refinery processes 85,000 bpd of Omani crude to manufacture light products including motor gasoline, LPG, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel. ORC is the single source for these products in Oman. The finished products are supplied to marketing companies Al Maha, BP and Shell for distribution.

To be more competitive and offer superior quality product for the international market, ORC continues to set higher targets for the future. New strategic business plans have been formulated to move the company into a bright, even more successful future.

The Mina Al Fahal plant has always struck a fine balance between technology advancement and the environment.

Safety is paramount in the refinery and the safe disposal of hydrocarbons in case of emergency is also one of the most important processes.

Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) issues are also critical to ORC, according to the company.

The Mina Al Fahal facility cannot be expanded to meet increased product demand, however, restricted as it is by its location close to Muscat. A second proposed refinery located at Sohar would give the country the capacity to process another 75,000 bpd.

Road tankers take the refinery products from storage tanks at Mina Al Fahal to filling stations, airports and other retail locations throughout northern Oman. Products are also loaded onto tankers off Mina Al Fahal by subsea pipeline to be taken to Salalah for distribution in southern Oman and to Khasab on the Musandam Peninsula.

The LPG produced at the refinery is taken by road to Rusayl, where it is bottled and marketed by the Natural Gas Company for domestic use. An additional volume of LPG is produced at the Yibal Gas Plant.

Some heavy products are also produced in Oman. Since 1986 a lubricant blending plant has been operating at Mina Al Fahal, run by the Shell Oman Marketing Company.