MONHEIM AM RHEIN, Germany – OQ Chemicals (formerly Oxea) has entered into an agreement to license its advanced proprietary technology for the production of ethylene and propylene derivatives to Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries Co. (DRPIC) in Oman. DRPIC, a joint venture between Oman Oil Co. and Kuwait International Oil Co., is a planned grassroots petrochemical complex at Duqm, Oman. In all, DRPIC awarded 12 license packages to international licensors.

“DRPIC is proud to have reached a major milestone with the conclusion of front-end engineering design. We selected OQ Chemicals in a competitive global bidding process. As an international know-how leader, they convinced us with an excellent long-term solution to the challenge of integrating different production technologies and efficient operation of the new plants. This will support DRPIC to better serve the growing demand in Asia-Pacific,” said Dr. Salim Al Huthaili, CEO of DRPIC.

OQ Chemicals has now entered into the design phase for five world-scale production units for the manufacturing of propanol, butyraldehyde, neopentyl glycol (NPG), 2-ethylhexanol (2EH), and 2EH acid. The company will supply a process design package and support contractors during the design and construction phase. After commissioning the new units, OQ Chemicals will provide various services, including support for operations, maintenance, troubleshooting, training and ongoing process optimization at Duqm.

“At OQ Chemicals, we are pleased to provide our advanced, proven technology and know-how to DRPIC to contribute to the company’s growth and the further development of the region,” said Markus Heuwes, Project Director at OQ Chemicals. “We have a long-standing track record with our proprietary oxo technology and can draw on the extensive expertise of our experienced teams from engineering, construction and operations. For the Duqm Petrochemical Project, we are applying the latest technologies that we developed for our production plants in Bay City, Texas, and Oberhausen, Germany,” said Oliver Borgmeier, COO of OQ Chemicals.