State-owned Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company (Orpic) has named four companies as the preferred bidders for three of the four packages for its $5.2-billion Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) project, a report said.

Tecnimont, JV GS Engineering & Construction Corp, Mitsui & Co and Punj Loyd are the companies that were selected for the project by Orpic, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

The three packages include the Natural Gas Extraction Unit in Fahud, the NGL pipeline between Fahud and Sohar and the three plastics plants in Sohar, said the report.

Orpic intends to sign the final engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts after finalising the agreements and receiving Final Investment Decision on the project but before year end.

In the coming days, Orpic will be announcing the preferred bidder for the largest package (Package One) which includes the steam cracker and associated utilities in Sohar, it added.

Eleven strong bidders submitted financial tenders for the three considered packages and after a thorough evaluation process the preferred bidders were presented to Orpic’s Major Tender Board.

The Tender Board studied the detailed bids and subsequently approved the names of the bidders. Soon, a detailed discussion will be held with them in order to finalise the contracts.

The final package for the steam cracker will be announced soon, the newspaper said in its report.