Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) on Thursday signed a USD1.2bn contract to supply piping for its drilling operations through Duqm. The five-year deal with Japanese supplier Sumitomo includes a new supply yard in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, which will be a logistics centre for materials being delivered to PDO’s drilling locations. The agreement will confirm PDO as an anchor tenant at Duqm from mid-2018, with up to two shipments a week (carrying 3,000 metric tonnes of pipe) being routed through the port for its oil and gas fields. (Muscat Daily)