The bidders for the EPC package are Germany's Uhdeand Daelim Industrial Companyand LG Engineering& Construction, both of South Korea. A contract award is expected by early 2004.

The project calls for the construction of an 80,000-tonne-a-year (t/y) normal paraffin (n-paraffin) plant and a 100,000-t/y LAB unit within the battery limits of the Mesaieed refinery (MEED 23:5:03).

The complex, due to be commissioned in late 2005, will use kerosine feedstock from the neighbouring refinery. The UK office of US-based Foster Wheeleris the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contractor and project management consultant; the US' UOPis the technology licensor.