The contracts for the LDPE-3 plant at Mesaieed, which will produce low density polyethylene, are currently under evaluation.

In January, a source with knowledge of the projects said that contracts would be awarded in February (MEED 7:1:09).

However, a source close to Qapco now says that an award should be made by the end of March.

Bidders for the contract are thought to include Italy's Tecnimont, the UK's Simon Carves and Germany's Uhde.

One of the bidders tells MEED that the firms have submitted differing plans for how to carry out the work, and the contracts on offer may need to be revised as a result.

“They want to talk with us about it,” the source says. “I understand that it is still under evaluation. They might remove some items.”
However, the Qapco source says there is no need to change the contracts and it plans to go ahead on the basis of the current bids.

The plant will have capacity of 250,000 tonnes a year (t/y), which could be expanded in the future to 300,000 t/y. Basell, of The Netherlands, is supplying the technology.

Original estimates of the value of the plant were $410m.