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Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) has awarded US-based consultant Fluor a contract for front-end engineering and design (feed) on an aromatics facility in the country.

The project will be an expansion of GPIC’s existing petrochemicals facility in Bahrain’s downstream complex in Sitra, which produces ammonia, urea and methanol.

The new aromatics facility will utilise “commercially-proven process technologies” to produce approximately 1.2 million metric tonnes a year (t/y) of paraxylene and 500,000 metric t/y of benzene, Texas-headquartered Fluor said.

Paraxylene and benzene are critical building blocks for plastics, polyester fibers and packaging materials, supporting global demand for high‑performance consumer and industrial products.

Founded in 1979, GPIC is a joint venture of Bahraini state energy enterprise Bapco Energies, known at the time as Nogaholding; chemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic); and Petrochemical Industries Company – a subsidiary of state energy conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The three partners hold equal stakes of 33.3% in GPIC.

GPIC utilises locally available natural gas as feedstock to manufacture high-quality chemicals and fertilisers for domestic consumption and export, including 1,200 metric tonnes a day (t/d) of ammonia, 1,200 metric t/d of methanol and 1,700 metric t/d of granular urea.

ALSO READ: Bahrain taps consultants for studying use of nuclear power

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Stress test for Gulf aviation; Mixed performance as country outlooks diverge in the Levant; GCC tourism sector pivots from crisis to recovery mode.

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the July 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes: