Air Liquide Commissions Two New Industrial Gas Plants in Oman

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Air Liquide SA (OTC:AIQUY) (Paris, France), a global leader in the production of industrial gases, recently commenced operations at two new industrial gas plants in Sohar and Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. The plants will cater to the increasing demand for gases from the country's booming petrochemical and industrial sector.

The two new air-separation plants were built by Air Liquide Sohar Industrial Gases LLC (ALSIG) (Muscat), a local subsidiary of Air Liquide. With the recent launch, ALSIG now operates three industrial gas plants in Oman, including an existing facility at the Sohar Industrial Port. The firm has doubled overall production capacity in the country from 200 tons per day to 400 tons per day of industrial gases.

Sohar is undergoing a rapid pace of industrialization and has a high concentration of diversified manufacturing companies. Nitrogen is a key component of industrial operations in these units. ALSIG's facility in Sohar supplies nitrogen and other gases through a dedicated pipeline network to industries in the region such as Sohar Refinery Company (Muscat) and Oman Polypropylene LLC (Muscat). ALSIG's new plant in Muscat is located on the premises of the Mina al Fahal facility of Oman Refineries & Petrochemicals Company LLC (ORPC) (Muscat).

ALSIG is excited about the prospect of venturing into new geographies beyond the existing operations in the Sohar and Muscat industrial hubs. The company plans to explore new opportunities in Oman through new petrochemical and industrial projects in Sur, Duqm and Salalah.

Air Liquide started operations in Oman in 2005 and has a majority stake of 50.1% in ALSIG. The other stakeholders of ALSIG include the diversified conglomerate Mohsin Haider Darwish LLC (Muscat), state-owned ORPC, and Omar Zawawi Establishment (Muscat).

Air Liquide operates in 75 countries worldwide and has a significant presence in the Middle East. The company currently has operations in Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The firm posted sales of $16.5 billion in 2008.

In July 2008, Shuaiba Oxygen (Safat, Kuwait), a local subsidiary of Air Liquide, commissioned an air-separation unit capable of producing 1,500 tons per day of oxygen. At around the same time, GASAL QSC (Qatar), a local subsidiary of Air Liquide, launched two new air-separation units. Air Liquide's subsidiary in Egypt recently commissioned a carbon-dioxide production facility in Aboukir to cater to the food and drinks markets of the region.

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