French energy major TotalEnergies has signed a deal with Oman to build a new liquefaction project that will serve as the first major LNG bunkering hub in the Middle East.
TotalEnergies announced on Monday that it had taken a final investment decision on Marsa LNG — a project it has had in the works for years.
The French major will hold an 80% stake in the 1m tonnes per annum LNG plant with Oman’s national oil company, OQ, taking the remaining 20%.
“The Marsa LNG project aims to create the first LNG bunkering hub in the Middle East, offering an available and competitive alternative to conventional marine fuel to reduce emissions from the shipping sector,” the company said.
The LNG facility will be built in the port of Sohar and use upstream gas production from the Mabrouk North-East onshore field on Block 10 which started production in January last year.
Technip Energies will be the main engineering and construction contractor and CB&I will build the 165,000-cbm storage tank.
TotalEnergies said Marsa LNG is due to start production in the first quarter of 2028 and is primarily intended to meet the needs of the LNG bunkering volumes in the Middle East Gulf region.
Volumes not sold as marine fuel will be removed by TotalEnergies and OQ, it said.
The new LNG plant will use power from a planned photovoltaic solar park with a capacity of 300 MWp.
TotalEnergies said this will be built to cover 100% of the LNG plant’s annual energy consumption, allowing for “a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions”.
“The Marsa LNG plant will run on 100% electricity, and will be powered by solar electricity, making it one of the lowest carbon intensity LNG plants in the world, with less than 3 kg CO2e/boe [CO2 equivalent divided by total hydrocarbon production in barrel of oil equivalent],” the company said.
This compares with an average carbon intensity about 35 kg CO2e/boe for LNG plants and so represents a reduction of about 90%, the major said.
TotalEnergies chairman and chief executive Patrick Pouyanne firmed up the new venture during a visit to Oman on 21 April where he met the Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik and OQ chairman Mulham Basheer Al Jarf.
The major also signed an LNG sale-and-purchase agreement with Oman LNG under which it will buy 0.8m tonnes of LNG over a 10-year period from 2025. This makes the company one of the main buyers of Oman LNG.
TotalEnergies also paired up with Oman renewables company OQ Alternative Energy in a 49%-51% venture. The major said the two are in “very advanced discussions” to develop jointly a portfolio of 800 MW renewable projects, including the 300 MWp solar project that will power Marsa LNG.
“By paving the way for a new generation of ultra-low-emission LNG plants, the Marsa LNG project is helping to make gas a long-term transition energy,” Pouyanne said.
