The local/French Shuaiba Oxygen - a joint venture of France's Air Liquide, Kuwait Industrial Gases Company and the local Mohamed Abdulmohsin Kharafi &Sons - has won the 20-yearconcession to build and operate the ASU serving the planned Olefins II petrochemicalscomplex.Under the terms of the contract, Shuaiba Oxygen will invest up to Eur 70 million($83 million) in the ASU, which will have capacity of 1,500 tonnes a day of oxygen. Commissioning is scheduled for the third quarter of 2008.

The contract for the seawater pumping unit has gone toJapan's Torishima Pump. The scope of works covers theconstruction of an offshore intake delivery pipeline system, return water culvert system, long sea outfalls and associated infrastructure. Nine sets of pumps will be installed with overall capacity of 126,000 cubic metres an hour. The UK's Mott MacDonald is the technical consultant (MEED 10:6:05).

Equate is a joint venture of the local Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and the US' Dow Chemical Company. The Dutch office of the US' Fluor Corporation is the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor for the offsites and utilities programme and is the complex's overall project management consultant (PMC - MEED 15:4:05).