Firms push for Ruwais base oil contract extension

15 April 2010

Contractors ask Takreer for more time to assess costs

Contractors bidding for an estimated $500m deal to build a new lubricants plant at Ruwais have asked Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer) for more time to prepare commercial proposals for the project.

Takreer has set a 3 May deadline for commercial bids on the engineering, procurement and construction contract, which covers a 300,000-barrel a day base oils refinery (MEED 29:3:2010).

The cut-off date for commercial bids marks a postponement of more than two weeks from the original deadline of 19 April and comes after a similar delay in the first round of bidding. Takreer pushed back the deadline for technical bids on the deal to 29 March from 15 March after requests from contractors for more time.

Firms bidding on the contract have asked Takreer for another extension to the commercial bid deadline, sources at several firms tell MEED. They want more time both to assess their own workload and the cost of materials for the project.

“People have asked for an extension, and I would think that we won’t see final bids go in until the end of May,” says a senior executive at one bidding firm.

Base oils are heavy grades of oil commonly used as industrial lubricants. Takreer currently blends the base oils into fuel oil and then sells this on the open market.

Firms that submitted proposals in the first round of bidding include:

  • China Technical Consultants (Taiwan)
  • Hanwha Corporation (South Korea)
  • Lurgi (Italy)
  • Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
  • Technip (France)
  • Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain)
  • Toyo (Japan)
  • Uhde (Germany)

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