Ompet to use PTA tech by BP at its new plant in Sohar

MUSCAT – BP has granted permission for Oman International Petrochemical Industries Company (Ompet) to use BP’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology.

The PTA will be used in a new Ompet plant in Sohar.

BP has signed a licensing agreement with Oman International Petrochemical Industries Company (Ompet) for the use of BP’s latest generation purified terephthalic acid (PTA) technology in a new Ompet plant in Sohar.

Ompet, a joint venture between Oman Oil Company, LG International Corp and Takamul Investment Company, plans on building a 1.1 million tonnes per annum (tpa) unit at Sohar to produce PTA, the primary feedstock for polyesters used in the textile and packaging industry, said the Oman Daily Observer report.

“This is the first licence for BP’s PTA technology in the Middle East which is an important and strategic region for BP, and is a testimony to the advantages of the company’s technology and to its extensive experience as a PTA producer,” Rita Griffin, chief operating officer, BP Petrochemicals, was quoted as saying in the report.

Daniel Leonardi, vice president, technology and licensing, BP Petrochemicals, said that BP will provide a wide range of technical and knowledge transfer services for the Ompet joint venture.

He added that the front-end engineering design (Feed) package for the licence has been completed and delivered to Ompet on schedule.

He noted that BP’s PTA technology has significantly lower capital and operating costs when compared with conventional PTA plants and the technology is more energy efficient, uses less water, and produces less solid waste.

Continued heavy investment in BP’s proprietary technology will maintain its PTA technology as the global leader, and also as the technology of choice for the future. Innovations in the technology will continue to be developed and implemented and these will be available to our licensees, including Ompet, Leonardi added.