Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has awarded Spanish energy firm Cepsa a contract to develop its new linear alkylbenzene (LAB) chemical plant in the Ruwais downstream complex.

On 13 May Adnoc announced that the LAB plant will be built in Ruwais, as part of its ambitious $45bn downstream expansion plan to create the world’s largest integrated refining and petrochemicals complex.

Adnoc and Cepsa, which is owned by Abu Dhabi’s investment firm Mubadala, signed a memorandum of understanding in November to conduct feasibility studies for the LAB plant.

The contract award to Cepsa follows completion of the feasibility assessment, with the project now set to move into the front-end engineering design (feed) stage.

The manufacturing facility will take feedstocks of kerosene and benzene, and is expected to have a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes a year of LAB upon completion. The Adnoc statement did not mention when the project is estimated to be completed.

LAB is the most common raw material in the manufacture of biodegradable household and industrial detergents, and is also used in house cleaners and soap bars.