OQ, partners to study feasibility of green fuel production in Oman

Omani state-owned oil and gas company OQ has agreed with a group of local and international companies to explore the feasibility of producing green fuel at the ports of Duqm and Salalah in the southeast of the Sultanate.

A memorandum of cooperation was signed on Monday during the Green Hydrogen Summit Oman 2022 with Denmark-based shipping major AP Moller-Maersk (CPH:MAERSK-B), Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation (TYO:8053) and Oman’s Asyad Group, state-owned news agency ONA said.

As part of the pact, the partners will discuss the commercial and technical feasibility of producing and supplying green ammonia and green methanol in Duqm and Salalah and using the environmentally friendly fuel to power the two local ports and for export purposes.

The two ports in the southeast of Oman were selected to host the potential green fuel production because a significant part of the country's planned green hydrogen plants will be located in the region and this will reduce transportation costs, said Issam bin Nasser al Shaibani, Vice President of Sustainability at Asyad Group.

In addition, OQ's Alternative Energy unit will explore the development of blue ammonia production in the Sur Governorate that could be used to power the local operations of Oman-India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO).

OQ is already involved in a large-scale green hydrogen project in Salalah as part of an international consortium including also Japan's Marubeni Corp (TYO:8002), Linde (NYSE:LIN) and UAE's Dutco. The companies agreed about a year ago to study the joint development of a project for the production of green hydrogen and up to 1,000 tonnes of green ammonia per day in the Salalah Free Zone.

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