The project to build an aromatics chemicals complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, is facing delays as contractors wait for decisions on the two main construction packages, according to sources familiar with the scheme.

Project owner Abu Dhabi Chemicals Integration Company (Tacaamol) received engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) proposals for both the aromatics plant package and  the offsites and utilities (O&U) package on 25 October.

One source has told MEED the project has been put on hold.

Companies submitting bids for the aromatics package include:

• GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• Technip (France)

Companies submitting bids for the O&U package include:

• GS Engineering & Construction
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Petrofac (UK)
• Samsung Engineering

Commercial bids for the aromatics plant package were submitted over a year after technical proposals, adding further to the delays in the timeline of the project, which has hit several hurdles since its inception.

Tacaamol is a 51:49 per cent joint venture of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Chemicals Company (Chemaweyaat) and Singapore-based chemicals group Indorama, and was formed in December 2013.

The complex will have the capacity to produce 1.4 million tonnes a year (t/y) of paraxylene and 500,000 t/y of benzene when it is completed towards the end of the decade.

The project will be located at the Madeenat Chemaweyaat al-Gharbia (MCAG) site, east of the existing Ruwais refining and petrochemicals facilities, along with supporting infrastructure including a dedicated export tank farm, jetty and loading berths.

The long-delayed scheme first looked to be back on track in 2012, when Chemaweyaat appointed US-based Foster Wheeler (now Amec Foster Wheeler) as the project management consultant for the front-end engineering and design (feed) phase.

In September 2013, MEED revealed that the feed work for the project had been awarded to US engineering group CH2M Hill.

Chemaweyaat is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), Abu Dhabi Investment Council and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).