Oman Refinery Exports First Shipment of High-quality Diesel

Duqm Refinery Project (from the OQ Group website)
Duqm Refinery Project (from the OQ Group website)
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Oman Refinery Exports First Shipment of High-quality Diesel

Duqm Refinery Project (from the OQ Group website)
Duqm Refinery Project (from the OQ Group website)

Oman's Duqm Refinery successfully exported its first shipment of high-quality diesel as per international specifications.

This coincides with the company getting closer to achieving commercial operation, with trial operations continuing to progress, exceeding 81 percent, while the percentage of construction work has exceeded more than 99 percent, Oman's state news agency reported.

The trial operations included testing all supply chains at the Duqm Refinery, including crude oil storage facilities at the Ras Markaz and an 80-kilometre-long crude oil transport pipeline.

In recent months, the Ras Markaz crude oil tanks received more than three million barrels of Omani and Kuwaiti crude oil, which were later pumped from Ras Markaz to the refinery complex in Duqm via the oil transportation pipeline.

The trial operations also included the export of the first shipments of naphtha and fuel oil via product storage and export dock at Duqm Port.

The Duqm Refinery Project is a joint project between the OQ Group and Kuwait Petroleum International Company and is located in the heart of the Special Economic Zone in Duqm.

The project includes three main packages capable of producing diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas, sulfur, and petroleum coal.

The Duqm Refinery has a capacity of 230,000 barrels per day and is capable of dealing with various types of crude oil, including Omani and Kuwaiti crude.



European Commission Says Bloc Can Cope with Halt of Russian Gas Flow

FILE PHOTO: Valves and pipes are seen at a gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka, outside Kyiv, April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Valves and pipes are seen at a gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka, outside Kyiv, April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo/File Photo
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European Commission Says Bloc Can Cope with Halt of Russian Gas Flow

FILE PHOTO: Valves and pipes are seen at a gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka, outside Kyiv, April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Valves and pipes are seen at a gas compressor station in the village of Boyarka, outside Kyiv, April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo/File Photo

The European Commission played down the impact of a halt of Russian gas exports to Europe via Ukraine on Wednesday, saying the stop on Jan. 1 had been expected and that the bloc was prepared for it.
"The European gas infrastructure is flexible enough to provide gas of non-Russian origin to CEE (central and eastern Europe) via alternative routes," a spokesperson for the European Commission said.
"It has been reinforced with significant new LNG import capacities since 2022."

Russian natural gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine to Europe were halted in the early hours of New Year's Day as a transit deal expired and warring Moscow and Kyiv have failed to reach an agreement to continue the flows.
The shutdown of Russia's oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas the following year.
"We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already made the decision to abandon Russian gas," Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a statement.
The stoppage of gas flows was expected amid the war, which started in February 2022. Ukraine has been adamant it would not extend the deal amid the military conflict.