WorleyParsons of Australia has been selected for the post of project manager on the proposed melamine plant at Ruwais. An official award is due by early January. The selection came after five companies submitted technical and commercial bids in mid-November (MEED 25:11:05).

The other bidders were Canada's SNC Lavalinand Foster Wheeler, Fluor Corporationand Jacobs Engineering, all of the US. An EPC tender to build the new facilities is due to be issued in May. WorleyParsons will oversee the construction works, which will take about two years to complete. The plant will be built beside the existing Ruwais Fertiliser Industries (Fertil)complex, which will supply urea feedstock to the new unit.

Estimated to cost $160 million, the melamine plant will have capacity of 80,000 tonnes a year (t/y). Milan-based Eurotecnica is due to complete soon the front-end engineering and design (FEED) package.

The next stage in the project implementation will be the signing of a joint venture agreement to set up a new project company to own and operate the planned facilities. The new company will be 60 per cent owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), with the remaining 40 per cent held by Austria's AMI Agrolinz Melamine International.