The US' Foster Wheelerhas been awarded the PMC contract covering the front-end engineering and design (FEED) element on the phase 3 expansion scheme, which involves the construction of a 1.4 million-tonne-a-year (t/y) ethane cracker and the addition of a 540,000-t/y polyethylene (PE) unit and two 400,000-t/y polypropylene (PP) units.

Borouge - a 60:40 joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)and Copenhagen-based Borealis- has also given the PMC contractor the option to roll over the contract to cover the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) packages. Three other companies - Fluor Corporationand Jacobs Engineering, both of the US, and Oslo-based Aker Kvaerner- bid for the PMC work (MEED 25:3:05).

HSBChas been selected for the financial advisory mandate on the $2,500 million expansion. About 10 banks submitted proposals in January for the mandate. The financing schedule sees a financing plan drawn up by the end of September, with financial close due by early 2007 (MEED 28:1:05).

The expansion, located next to Borouge's existing petrochemical complex at Ruwais, is expected to come on stream in 2010. Current downstream capacity is 600,000 t/y of PE and PP. The client says the new capacity will be marketed primarily to the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.

The go-ahead came just two weeks after Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) increased its stake in Borealis to 65 per cent after it and Austria's OMVbought out the 50 per cent stake held by the remaining shareholder, Norway's Statoil, for Eur 1,000 million ($1,220 million - MEED 1:7:05).