Four new hydrocarbon and petrochemical projects worth $2.5 billion will be implemented on a new reclaimed land from the sea as a part of the Sohar South expansion project of Sohar Port and Freezone (SOHAR), Oman Observer reported.

“The Sohar South expansion is progressing very well,” said Mark Geilenkirchen, SOHAR CEO, adding that “we have so far attracted four investors to this development, which falls within our Petrochemical Cluster.”

Sohar has launched a tender for the land reclamation which is expected to add around 250 hectares to SOHAR’s Petrochemicals Cluster. A two-year framework is anticipated to complete the land’s dredging and reclamation and the projects are envisioned to be implemented in three years.

“We will start tendering — perhaps in July — for the reclamation of land aimed at adding another 250 hectares to the Sohar Port. We hope to attract a lot of customers to this huge piece of land, as well as business to Sohar in general. This will create a lot of jobs as well,” Geilenkirchen added.

Trescorp, a Singapore-based oil and petroleum products trading firm, is expected to be among the first tenants with investments around $600 million in the new terminal.  It has already signed a deal with SOHAR Port to develop a 45-hectare terminal for the handling, storage and blending of crude oil, fuel oil and diesel at the port.

Expanding the Petrochemical Cluster becomes a necessity because the port has run out of leasable real estate for new petrochemical investors.