Omagine completes land rights registration process for Omani beachfront

Omagine LLC, a 60-percent-owned subsidiary of Omagine Inc., announced late last week that it has signed and registered with the government of Oman a usufruct agreement to secure Omagine's ownership of the development rights on more than 245 acres of beachfront property located in Oman.

The land is part of the Omagine Project, a $2.5-billion development aimed at both tourism and real estate industries. The project development agreement was signed in October 2014. The following month, Omagine entered into a partnership with the Oman office of Savills, operating as Arabian Real Estate, to provide real estate services for the project.

In December 2014, Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based DTZ International Ltd. came on board to provide commercial real estate services. Financial services are being handled by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The Omagine Project will include cultural, entertainment and residential facets.

Shareholders include Royal Court Affairs, 25 percent; two subsidiaries of Consolidated Contractors International Co., 15 percent; and Omagine Inc., 60 percent.

"The registration of the UA with the Government is a welcome milestone event," said Frank Drohan, Omagine's managing director and president. "Now that we have unfettered access to the land we are rapidly progressing the development of the Omagine Project and the finalization of the CCC contract. We have expended considerable effort and resources during the past many months."

Sam Hamdan, Omagine's deputy managing director, agreed.

"There is enormous investor and banking liquidity in Oman and the GCC," he said. "With the Usufruct Agreement now registered and the imminent conclusion of our consultant reviews, we expect to be making several crucial consultant appointments in the coming months."

More information can be found online at www.omagine.com.