O P E R A T I O N S O V E R V I E W
OMIFCO:
A unique and mutually beneficial initiative Written by: Sam Jermy Produced by: Heykel Ouni
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OMIFCO
Collaboration between two governments laid the foundations for a exclusive fertiliser company
OMIFCO has direct access for shipping through facilities exclusively built at the start of the project
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he Oman India Fertiliser Company S.A.O.C (OMIFCO) as the name might suggest, has seen the transcontinental cooperation of bodies from two countries to create a unique initiative. Today, the company is celebrating more than 10 years of operations and a turnover in excess of $300 million. Back in 1998, a long-standing relationship between the two countries historically led to a Memorum of Understanding (MOU) to construct, own and operate a modern world scale twotrain ammonia-urea fertiliser manufacturing plant at the Sur Industrial Estate in the Sultanate of Oman. OMIFCO is owned 50 percent by Oman Oil Company SAOC (OOC), 25 percent by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) and 25 percent by Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO). Once funding in the region of $640 million was secured, OMIFCO was able to acquire land near to the Oman coast, next to OLNG plant which had
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OMIFCO was established 20 years ago
the necessary gas capabilities. Now that original 10 year loan has been full repaid, the company has experienced strong financial results. Sharanappa Gurappa Gedigeri, CEO of OMIFCO, said: “Oman had the availability of natural gas which is a key ingredient for manufacturing urea fertiliser, and India being an agricultural country had a huge market for the urea, so this initiative was essentially set up to accelerate industrial growth in the Sultanate of Oman. The urea produced is exported to India and the local market. “We produce urea and ammonia; the latter is used as a raw material to produce urea. First the gas comes in, then ammonia is produced and from that we produce urea. It is stored and conditioned then dispatched though ships.
“We sell and export to the government, sending it on ships to the west and east coasts of India via the Arabian Sea. We also have our own jetty, exclusively for us at OMIFCO, which was built at the start of the project” –S haranappa Gurappa Gedigeri, CEO w w w. o m i f c o . c o m
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OMIFCO
550 Number of staff employed by OMIFCO
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“The product is supplied on ships to the west and east coasts of India via the Arabian Sea. We also have our own jetty, exclusively for us at OMIFCO, which was built at the start of the project.” Operations and staff OMIFCO’s fertiliser complex process technology consists of two ammonia plants, designed and
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licensed by Danish company Haldor Topsoe. Urea plant process technology comes from Snamprogetti of Italy, so two leading technologists are involved in the plant operations. Dy CEO Said said: “Here we produce international quality granular urea that can be exported long distances which is the preferred method for the crops and also a very good strength. There is potential to save energy on
OMIFCO has built its facility in a very strategic location on the coast, enabling a good supply route
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OMIFCO
Specialists in • Burners for Steam Methane Reformers & Fired Heaters • Thermal Oxidisers Providing Efficient Green Combustion and Energy Solutions Since 1845 Greens have been in the forefront of energy saving ever since Edward Green had the vision in 1845 to design and patent the world’s first economiser. Since then Greens has continued to be leaders in providing green and efficient combustion solutions to a vast range of applications with an evolving and diversified product range. Greens Combustion carries these values into the refinery and petrochemical industries by specialising in supplying a range of GreenBurn® burners for fired heaters and steam methane reformers as well as a range of thermal oxidisers and other combustion related products. Whether it is revamping existing equipment for increased efficiency or supplying new products, for the last 170 years Greens remains a name synonymous with the combustion industry.
ESTABLISHED INTERNATIONALLY
T 00 44 (0)1202 607563 F 00 44 (0)1202 607565 middleeast@greenscombustion.com www.greenscombustion.com 8 Month 2014
OMIFCO
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ammonia and urea, by making certain changes in the process, because we want to achieve energy saving targets in order for us to continue to grow but without excess energy being used. Gedigeri added: “There is potential to make an additional investment of $300 million to increase production by 10 percent; this is something we are currently considering and we will be discussing further with the board soon. “We have also invested significantly in people; we have grown to over 550 staff members from 450 since we began operations. Slowly, as we consolidated, that number has grown and so has the localisation efforts, rising from around 25 percent when we started to close to 74 percent now.” The technical skills originally came from
SUPPLIER PROFILE
OMIFCO has loyal and dedicated employees
GREENS COMBUSTION LIMITED
Greens Combustion Limited, part of the Greens Group which has been associated with the combustion industry since Greens was founded in the United Kingdom in 1826, has a wealth of experience in the refinery and petrochemical industries and specialises in Burners for Fired Heaters and Steam Methane Reformers as well as a Thermal Oxidisers and associated combustion services. Drawing on almost 200 years of know-how Greens Combustion supply a range of new products as well as embarking on more challenging revamps of existing burners and thermal oxidisers for enhanced performance and improved plant efficiency.
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Helping Urea Manufactures Increase Their Capacity Rotex were the first choice for OMIFCO allowing them to make significant increases in capacity within the same footprint Rugged design with quick screen access Highest product recovery efficiency while meeting stringent SGN and UI specs High throughput tonnage in a compact footprint Total solutions, unmatched application expertise and aftermarket support
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Call today on +44 (0)1928 706 110 or visit online www.rotex.com
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OMIFCO
Twilight view of the Sur Industrial Estate
two Indian partners that had experience of building and operating plants with similar technology. Project managers and engineers in the construction phase and then in the building operation phase- area managers, operating staff, technicians and operators were all sourced from India. In parallel, fresh technical trainees were recruited from local colleges and have undergone extensive training development programs locally and in India. A training department now identifies training gaps and specialises training programmes for individuals. Technical trainers supervise new recruits internally; there is orientation in classrooms as well as on the job training mixed with OEM external training. Soft skills such as leadership, team building and conflict management are also covered and have become part of the company’s training manuals.
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“We have also invested significantly in people; we have grown to over 550 staff members from 450 since we began operations. Slowly as we consolidated, that number has grown and so has the localisation efforts, rising from around 25 percent when we started to close to 74 percent now” –S haranappa Gurappa Gedigeri, CEO w w w. o m i f c o . c o m
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OMIFCO
OMIFCO CEO, Sharanappa Gurappa Gedigeri
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Continuous improvement Gedigeri stated there are numerous quality assurance standards in place to achieve operational excellence. He said: “We started with ISO 9001 and we have integrated a quality management system and we are audited regularly. So continuous improvement comes from having smart KPI’s and the balance scorecards.” In terms of expansion plans and growth of company, together with technology suppliers, OMIFCO has plans to double production capacity from its current level. Gedigeri concluded: “We identify certain weak links in our chain so we then modify or enhance things. Underground water cooling systems are one of the reasons for plant downtime so we improved operations to operate it safely and we modified certain systems in the hardware. Our gas turbines systems, control systems, gas systems hardware have all been upgraded to have a longer life, and there’s mandatory inspections all the time. From this we can now operate our plants safely, reliably and efficiently.” “We get the gas and everything else including saleable products we produce ourselves; such as water, steam and electric energy. It is all done in the same complex and means we can be safe in the knowledge we are being as energy efficient as possible. Overall we are very confident of our future success.”
Company Information INDUSTRY
Fertiliser HEADQUARTERS
Oman FOUNDED
1998 EMPLOYEES
550 REVENUE
$400 million PRODUCTS/ SERVICES
The plant has the capacity to produce 1,750 T/D of Anhydrous Ammonia from 2 Ammonia Plants and 2,530 T/D of granular urea from 2 Urea Plants.
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Address P.O. Box 67, Sur - Oman 411 Tel. +968 25532000 / Fax. +968 25562847 info@omifco.com www.omifco.com