The companies in the race for the 450,000-tonne-a-year (t/y) styrene monomer unit are South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company, US-based Shaw Internationaland a US/South Korean joint venture (JV) of Foster Wheelerand Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company.

Technical and commercial offers for the estimated $200 million-250 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract were submitted to the client, The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), in late August and early September respectively. The US' Dow Chemical Company, the international partner on the complex, is licensing its proprietary technology for the unit.

The prequalified companies awaiting a decision on the estimated $300 million-400 million contract to build the 600,000-t/y EO/EG unit are the Foster Wheeler/Hyundai JV and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas.

For the final main process unit package, to revamp and expand the existing PE unit by 300,000 t/y, three groups are understood to be competing. They are: Kellogg Brown & Rootand Bechtel, both of the US, and Spain's Dragados. The project company for both the PE and the EO/EG packages as well as for the 850,000-t/y ethane cracker - awarded in June to Paris-based Technip- is The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC -MEED 1:7:05).

The Dutch office of the US' Fluor Corporationis the overall project management consultant (PMC) on the Olefins II project. The overall development of the complex is being overseen by Equate Petrochemical Company, the JV of the local Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC)and Dow.