Yokohama, Japan - JGC Corporation has won a lump-sum contract from Sohar Refinery Company, a state-owned petroleum company in Oman, to construct the company's Sohar Refinery Project, at a contract price of some U.S.$880 million. Contract signing took place on 19 May, 2003.

This refinery is to be built in Sohar, about 250 km northwest of Muscat, the capital of Oman. JGC provides overall design, equipment/materials procurement, construction and commissioning services. Completion is scheduled for the first half of 2006.

Major facilities include an atmospheric distillation unit (116,000 BPSD), RFCC unit, LPG Merox unit, gasoline desulfurization unit, deep desulfurization unit, and offsite/utilities facilities. Major products are gasoline, propylene, LPG, naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, and fuel oil.

JGC carried out FEED (font-end engineering design) work for this refinery in 2000. Recently put up for an international bid, this project involved competition with European/Korean joint ventures. The contract award to JGC reflects the client's high regard for JGC's cost competitiveness with extensive grass-roots refinery construction experience as well as its outstanding technical orientation capability and good finance arrangements.

The buyer credit is expected on a limited finance basis from Japanese ECA, JBIC and NEXI.

The Sohar Refinery is a top-priority project in Oman's energy strategies, because of which this contract award is of great significance for JGC.

JGC is an international engineering and construction company based in Yokohama, Japan, having multiple operating centers and executing large scale projects world-wide. JGC is currently executing projects in Nigeria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Australia, Venezuela and other countries. Established in 1928, JGC has a strong background in lump sum turnkey operations of both hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon related projects with annual sales turnover of approximately $3 billion.

JGC's website can be accessed at http://www.jgc.co.jp