(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Even as large firms such as Sohar Aluminium and Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) are seeking increased gas allocations from the government for their expansion plans, H E Nasser bin Khamis al Jashmi, undersecretary for the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said that these expansions are not the current priority, at least not until the government has enough gas resources to support these plans.Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the launch of The Oil & Gas Year, Oman 2012 report at the Grand Hyatt Muscat on Saturday, H E Jashmi said that greenfield projects are the current priority as they create new jobs and have a more socio-economic impact on the economy.''Currently expansion is not our priority. We do not want to allow expansion until we have enough gas resources to meet increased demand.'' H E Jashmi added, ''We will be able to supply our customers with the existing reserves that we have. However, if we are to continue supplying them we will need to add new reserves and new sources. A lot of activities are ongoing in exploration and development, which will add new reserves in the coming years,'' he added.Talking about the Duqm refinery and petrochemical complex project, H E Jashmi said that the project, which is now in its first phase, is expected to be commissioned in 2016-17.He said, ''The Duqm refinery project is at the front-end engineering design (FEED) stage now. We have appointed a project manager and it is progressing as planned.''Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company is a 50:50 joint venture between Oman Oil Company and UAE's International Petroleum Investment Company.H E Jashmi, who is also the chairman of Oman Oil Company, said that Oman Oil is also studying a major petroleum-storage project at Ras Markaz in Duqm.''We are planning a storage capacity for 200mn barrels at Ras Markaz and it will be one of the biggest storage facilities in the world. We have recruited a project manager and the project is in the study phase. We are now reviewing the marketing strategy for this project.''''A long list of other projects is under review by Oman Oil Company. Takamul Investment, a subsidiary Oman Oil, is also considering some downstream projects,'' H E Jashmi added.
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