The bidders for both subcontracts, worth a total of about $350 million, include China's Sinopec, UAE-based Dodsal and Turkey's Tekfen. The larger of the two packages - worth $200 million - covers the vacuum distillation unit (VDU). The other subcontract, worth $150 million, is for the amine recovery unit and related facilities (MEED 24:6:05).

The client is Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas, which is carrying out the main contract to expand the 80,000-barrel-a-day (b/d) facility under a $900 million-1,000 million contract placed by Saudi Aramco in early summer. TR's contract covers the installation of the VDU, two vacuum gas oil hydrotreaters, a hydrogen plant and two flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units, besides the construction of a butane complex consisting of two amine regeneration units, sour water strippers and sulphur recovery units.

An award is also approaching for the lump-sum turnkey (LSTK) contract covering the refinery's pipeline element. About seven local and international companies have priced the estimated $130 million contract. Each contractor has submitted a base price and an alternate offer. The base price is for the engineering and installation works, while the alternate offer includes the line pipe.

The successful bidder will build parallel ethane and butane pipelines over a distance of 212 kilometres, between the integrated Rabigh refinery/petrochemicals plant and the existing Yanbu natural gas liquids (NGL) facility. UK-based Foster Wheeler Energyis the project manager.